Fox's Creed
by Legion'sKryme
Summary: Trafalgar Law, a man with a love for taking things apart and finding out how they tick, known as the Surgeon of Death, has found a woman with a rather interesting devil fruit ability. Creed is a born and raised pirate. But, when she comes in contact with a Surgeon Man, a Fire Man and a Rubber Man, just where will life take her? LawXOCXAce On Temporary Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

_Welcome to Fox's Creed! First and foremost, I will say that I'm working on publishing this at the same time as another story of mine, Jigokuen no Taka as well as another that doesn't yet have a title. And while like those other stories, this one is pre-written and fairly far along the One Piece time line, I'll be putting up these chapters three at a time and no more nor less._ I'll say this once, and never repeat it again, so make sure to read it: **I DO NOT own One Piece! If I did, Ace would have never...Well, I won't say for those of you who don't like spoilers and aren't that far in the series. The only person in this story I DO own, is Creed and EVERYTHING pertaining to her (abilities, family and family's crew). **This will be rated M for mature language...If you'll look to the...Seventh word in the first paragraph, it's a curse word so...If you kiddies don't like that, then too damn bad. I'll be doing the chapters three at a time, all of them being moderately long just to keep your minds stimulated and the story flowin'. Lastly, feel free to comment or flame or ask questions as you like. Now...Please sit back, relax, and see if you'll enjoy the story of Creed. 

**Chapter 1: Freedom...Crew?**

"Let me out! Let me the fuck out NOW!" I demand even from my downed from in the cell and on the floor. "Didn't you hear me you sick bastards?! Let me out! I want out and I want out NOW!" As you can see, even though I don't have enough energy to move, I still have enough energy to scream my lungs out as I so please.

"Shut the hell up would you?!" A guard demands, strutting his way out of an office to hit my cell's bars with a club that he must think makes him look scary. "And quiet down with the obscenities, no one likes a slave who curses".

"Yea? Well anyone who likes slaves in the first place can suck my nine foot long dick!" I don't have one, I'm a woman after all, and even if I did it wouldn't be nine foot long- that's not possible for a person.

"Don't make me come in there and make you shut up!" The man demands, waving his club dangerously my way.

"Tch, I dare you. You can't leave any visible marks on the merchandise, and with how little I'm wearing," unwillingly, "You can't hit anywhere without it bruising and being visible," I spit in his direction.

"Why I oughta," the ugly guard snarls, glaring at me with those beady black eyes of his.

"Would you shut up and help me get this big guy though his cell door!? He's up next!" A guard down the hall demands, making us both look to my right and seeing a giant of all people being pulled out of the cell. He's not going willingly of course, using his size to the best of his advantage. But still, the guard I had been having such a nice talk with sighs and strides his way over to help his fellow.

There's a chuckle of a man from not too far away from me; after all, I'm not so special that I have my own cell, I share it with a few others. "You have quite the mouth on you, miss," his voice is kind and friendly, and as I barely manage to shift my head a bit to look him over, I find that he's on the older side of the time line that's called age. If he gets sold to some asshole- which is pretty much a guaranteed thing- he won't last long.

"Eh? What of it Old Man?" I question with a raised brow. I was born to a pirate mother and father on a pirate ship, lived as a pirate, you get the point. My parents weren't all that strong, but they loved adventure...But that's a different story. "Are you offended? Cause if you are, then I'll stop; Mother never did like it when I cursed in front of my elders. Even though Mother's dead by now.

There's another chuckle from him, "Quite the opposite; it shows that you've got plenty of fire in you, miss," he smiles to me. "If I may...What's your name?"

I grunt, barely managing to roll on my back so that I can look at him better; he's sitting on the bench behind me after all. "Me? The name's Creed Kakusare. I'd offer you a hand to shake, but just rolling around to look at you is hard enough".

"Ahh yes, sea stone can do that to you," the man nods knowingly nods out. "Are you planning on escaping any time soon?"

"With what back up? I have no friends coming to get me. Besides, I've got more sea stone on me then really needed and I can't move. I might as well as wait till I'm sold, seduce the key to my blasted collar, and then once it's off run for the hills," I manage a shrug. "What about you old man?"

He smiles to me calmly, "I have a feeling that something exciting is going to help me get free".

I was going to ask him just what the hell he meant by that when there's the sound of our cell door opening. Before me is the very man I had been taunting, "My turn eh?" I raise a brow, grinning to show him white teeth along with two very sharp, very deadly, long canines.

"That's right," the guard states, walking over and throwing off the extra sea stone that doesn't bind my hands and feet, "Get up and let's get going," he tells me darkly.

I merely sigh and look over my shoulder once I'm stood to my full five foot nine frame, "It was nice talkin' to ya, Old Man. I hope that something exciting comes soon or else I'm a goner". That said, I'm pulled fully from the cell and I watch as something very rare sadly sits in a large bowl tank, tears dripping down her pretty face. A mermaid of all creatures is in this tank, short, cropped green hair and a pink tail are her basic looks. Like any mermaid and just as any legend states, she's beautiful. "Hey," I call to her gently while I wait my turn, "Don't worry girlie, I'm sure things will be fine," he assure her with a calming smile. But that's all I can really do for her as I'm shoved onto the stage and to the platform where all merchandise is put in order to be auctioned off.

My eyes scan the crowd, seeing mainly rich bastards, all over the place. However I do see a few pirate crews. Two of which belonging to two members of the Super Novae. One crew are the Kid Pirates, being lead by none other than Eustass 'Captain' Kid. I can see him- I've never met him, just seen his wanted posters- standing by the doors of the auction house. His black and yellow pants, his red fluffy coat, the blue sash around his waist, his dark rimmed eyes and colored lips, and his fiery hair. I'd be lying if I said that he wasn't good looking. I mean come on, what woman in the right mind doesn't love broad shoulders, a small waist, and power that would gladly dominate any woman in bed? There's a part of me, it's not that big mind you, that wishes to go on a killing spree just to see if I'd be interesting enough to him to allow to join his crew. However I have no interest in joining his crew; nor in going on a killing spree.

The next man I see is so much more laid back when compared to Kidd, not even bothering to seem like the powerful man I've heard him to be. There's a lazy look in those stormy gray eyes of his, but despite this, there is power as well. He's heavily decorated in tattoos if the markings on his fingers, hands, and forearms are any sign. Black short hair in a spotted hat and earrings littering his ears go with how he looks like as well A yellow and black hoodie with some sort of smilie face on it rests over his torso, and spotted blue jeans tucked in boots are covering his legs. Over all, he's strong and he's smart that much is obvious. And by the looks of the face on his hoodie, this guy is Trafalgar 'Surgeon of Death' Law. Like with Kidd, part of me wants to do something to get his attention and see if I'm fit for living in a yellow submarine as his crew is rumored to live. However, I don't think I really want to be on that submarine as it is, seeing as if it gets hit and it's below the water's surface, then I'm done for, and so is the Captain.

My attention is taken from the crowed and given to the auctioneer as he begins to speak up, "This here is a lovely lady around the ripe age of nineteen, and stands at a wonderful long legged height of five foot nine inches! As you can see, her hair is a beautiful assortment of colors, starting as black at the roots which bleed into a lighter and lighter red, which bleeds into blue, which becomes darker and darker until the tips of her hair which are also black. To go with this odd color, which I assure you is natural, is the natural wild spiked layers that she currently sports. Her eyes, for those of you who are too far away to see, are that of embers from a fire. Her name is Kakusare Creed, and she is a rare type of pirate in that she has no crew, nor a former crew. Ladies and gentlemen, she is also a devil fruit eater. The Kitsune Kitsune no Mi is her fruit, and according to our sources, despite the name it is a mythical zoan fruit giving her the ability to become the legendary Kyuubino Kitsune. For those who don't know, such a beast is immensely powerful, however this one we have managed to tame just for you!". Okay, that's where I draw the line.

"Oi! I'm not tame damn it!" I snap out nice and loud for all to hear. I earn myself gasps of surprise and mutterings of me having a dirty mouth. "Now someone hurry up and buy me so I can get out of this shit hole!"

The auctioneer glares at me before motioning my way, "We'll start the bid at five thousand beli. Do I hear five thousand?" A raise of a few hands. "Six? Okay, do I have seven? Seven! Eight! Do I have nine? Nine, very good! Now do I have ten? Ten thousand beli? Do I hear twenty? Thank you sir, twenty five? Do I have thirty?" The calls keep in coming and coming until finally, "Forty...? Do I hear Forty thousand belly for this lovely woman?". My eyes watch as fat man after fat man greedily raises his hand here and there until the numbers dwindle. The question is not the price, but rather which fat man I am to seduce into giving me my collar's key? What I didn't see though, was a certain main constantly raising his hand with an insane and dark lipped grin on his face. "Fifty thousand beli for this lovely woman going once...Twice...Sold to Captain Eustass Kid!"

My eyes are wide and land on the red head's gaze, "Eh?!" I stammer out with wide black rimmed eyes. Where as his eyes look like raccoons, mine simply look like they're always wearing black eyeliner on my top and bottom lids- which they're not mind you. "Oi! I growl out as the very same guard that had brought me out of my cell, pulls me back towards the back so they can ready me for Kid, "Fuck you! I ain't no body's property, got that? And I ain't taking any orders from someone I don't wanna!". It's from there that I'm tossed back into my cell and I watch now as the mermaid is wheeled out in her tank.

"So, I heard you got sold to Captain Eustass Kid," Old Man speaks up as I seethe in my currently sitting position.

"Yea," I sigh out, "I don't like him. I mean sure, it'd be interesting to see if I'm worthy being on his crew, but then again it'd also be interesting to see if I'm worthy of being on any Super Nova's really. Still, Kid is an ass and he needs to be placed onto a hot pike.".

"Then who's crew would you join if you had a choice?" Old Man questions with that seemingly usual smile on his face.

"...I'd have to say...Either Monkey D. Luffy's or Law's. I don't trust the submarine, but I do like the way Law works. Luffy...? He keeps on getting into a shit load of adventures, and I'm all for that," I tell him honestly.

I was going to continue, but suddenly there's a huge crashing sound and the shout of, "CAAAAAMMIIIIIEEEE WE CAME TO RESCUE YOU!"

As well as, "Why did you have to crash through the roof of all things?!"

"I told you to hold on!" The first voice answers as though that solves everything. "Camie! Let go of Camie!"

"How absurd! I'll do no such thing!" The auctioneer sneers out from behind his podium. Isn't his name Disco or something? Eh, I don't give a fuck.

There's a slightly nazily voice that speaks up, telling the owner of the voice not to go towards the stage, and then there's screaming What happened? I stand despite the sea stone cuffs and shackles on my person, and move towards the bars of Old Man and my cell. The sound of a pistol goes off, and all is quiet save for a few new voices along with the loudest one. Someone must have been shot for whatever reason. I don't bother to try and understand the slurred and mispronounced words to the noble whose voice I recognize to belong to Charloss. However, whatever he said to the loud voice pissed said loud voice off enough for him to do something that someone smart wouldn't do.

"Shut up!" I hear the sound of a fist meeting skin, and then the crash of a body into something, and then more screaming. By the sounds of those screams, the owner of the loud voice punched Charloss of all things and therefore other nobles are bound to call upon an admiral if not two to get rid of the pirates. The running of feet is heard, and I can only guess that every normal person that's not a pirate or someone else are making their way out of there as soon as possible so that none of them die. That's when the fight begins. I have no choice but to listen to the owner of the voice scream out the mermaid's name, Camie, over and over.

"Well," Old Man stands up, "I think it's time we got out of here. Don't you agree, Creed?"

"I would if I could old man, but even with the collar off, I've got sea stone cuffs on me," I smile to him.

"Just please come along if you will," Old Man insists, and looks to the cell bars before letting out a strong burst of haki of all things. My eyes widen as the bars bend to his will, shattering as though something powerful just touched them- and something did. What's more surprising is that the haki didn't effect me even in my weakened state. I'd come across haki every now and then, but never when cuffed with sea stone. I follow him as he frees the giant that had been sold off earlier, and as he shows another bout of power by managing to remove both the giant's and my, and his own collars before they can explode and take our lives. I rub my neck with one of my cuffed hands and grin. That's much better.

It's after that that the giant- Jean Bart- does us the favor of blasting a hole through the wall that has the stage on the other side. My eyes widen as they land on the owner of this whole fiasco, none other than Monkey D. Luffy. Of course a guy like him would start stuff like this. I watch as the guards that had decided to bombard the Straw Hat crew stop and look at Old Man like he's something special. Sure he's got strong haki but that's it, right?...Right? However, another blast of haki passes over us all, knocking out the guards but leaving the rest of us to be fine.

"Huh? Who's the geezer?" Luffy stops what he's doing. Good question Luffy.

"Forgive me for that blast, Captain Law, Captain Kid," Old Man smiles out, "I was getting tired of all the noise those young men were making". The two pirates merely shrug off his words. "I've been meaning to meet you, Monkey D. Luffy," Old Man smiles out, "I've heard great things about you. My name is Silvers Rayleigh".

It is now that Luffy and my faces are identical, what with our jaws dropping to hit the floor and our eyes to widen in surprise. This old guy is 'Dark King' Silvers Rayleigh, Gol D. Roger's first mate? Holy shit!

"Old Man, why didn't you tell me who you were?! Damn you're bad ass!" I demand and state all in one.

He laughs to me and places a kind hand on my head, ruffling my odd colored hair just as kindly, "Because then you would have treated me differently. Would you not have?"

I blanch at him, "I wouldn't treat you differently if you were Rogers himself". This makes him laugh happily for whatever reason, and I beam to him, "But you're still bad ass". It's true. However, my grin falls as a rather unwanted voice speaks up rather cruelly. It makes a horrid shiver run up my spine, and if I had hackles they'd be raised.

"Oi bitch! Get your slave ass over here!" Kid demands from his position by the door.

A snarl rips through my throat, "Oi cock sucker! Why don't you go skull fuck your boyfriend over there," I point to none other than his first mate.

"What the hell did you say to me you wench?!" Oh, someone didn't like that.

"I'll gladly repeat it as many times as you want, ya mother fucker! I said 'Why don't you go skull fuck your boyfriend over there?'! Did you hear it that time? I'm sure Killer is just waiting to gargle those tiny marbles you call testicles right here and now! Don't worry, we'll all look away". I snap viciously, making the red head fall silent with rage.

In front of the stage I see the sniper of Luffy's crew, Usopp if I'm correct, turn whiter than a ghost along with the navigator Nami. "D-Don't insult him like that! He'll kill you!" Aww, he's worried for me.

"Don't worry long nose," I smile his way, "He's just a monster like me. Only a man can kill a monster, didn't you know that?" My attention goes to the blue haired cyborg, "You wouldn't happen to have the keys to my cuffs and shackles, would you?"

"Uhh...Can't say I know for sure miss," he answers with a sheepish smile. "You want me to give 'em a try?"

"That would be awesome if you did," I beam to him, showing off sharp fangs. Out of the corner of my eye, I can still see Kid seething silently. I continue to hold out my hands for the cyborg to try each key patiently; the navy won't come to us, we have to go to them.

"Now that Camie's collar is off, we can leave guys," Luffy direct to his crew. He looks to me, "You should come too! You're awesome!"

"You haven't even seen what I can do yet and you still want me to come with you?" I raise a brow.

The green haired one, Pirate Hunter Zoro I believe, speaks up from his position next to his captain, "I'd just accept the invitation; he won't give up until you do".

"Well in that case, I-," there's a clicking sound, and energy flows through me. Then there's another clicking sound as apparently the cuffs and shackles were a pair and therefore worked with the same key. I let out a long sigh as fire as hot as the sun's core yearns to burst from my body due to the rush of energy. However, there's a second sigh and steam exits my mouth. The wood under me crackles as it's burnt, but does nothing else. "That's much better," I smile to the cyborg, "Thank you...," I don't know his name...I haven't been looking at wanted posters as of late so I don't know a lot of Luffy's crew members' names.

"Franky," the man smiles out.

"Thank you Franky," I nod to him once.

"We're not getting anywhere," Kid states snappishly, still obviously pissed at me, "The marines've got this place surrounded already. But my crew and I can take care of them while yours and Trafalgar's crews escape, Straw Hat".

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that, Kid-ya," Law speaks up, standing to his full height and his voice being as velvety smooth as the gaze in his eyes. Being a woman who loves that kind of voice on a man as hot as Law is, I can't help but grin widely to hide my blush. God, damn he's sexy! Good looking, strong, and now his voice? What about him isn't perfect? I can't stop myself from licking my lips hungrily before biting my lower one.

"Yea! I'll take care of this, you guys go on ahead," Luffy states, making his way to the front doors, "Guys," he addresses his crew and...Myself oddly enough, "Stay here until I tell you it's okay to come out".

"Straw Hat-ya, that's not what I meant. I'll be taking care of the marines when you and Kid-ya make an escape," Law's beautiful voice states. He looks over his shoulder, and meets my gaze, a smirk on his lips. What's so funny? As he turns away I bite my lip harder, god damn he's sexy. He needs to stop.

I sigh and decide sit on the edge of the stage, looking to the orange haired woman below me, "Is your captain always like that?"

"I'm afraid so," she blanches out, "I just didn't figure every other strong captain would be stupid like him". Still, she offers a hand for me to shake, "Nice to meet you by the way, I'm Nami".

"Kakusare Creed," I shake her hand firmly, "Nice ta meet ya".

"That was quite the show you put on for Captain Kid, Yaju-san," a black haired woman with a regal face and blue eyes greets me next, a smile on said regal face. She must be...Nico Robin, 'Demon Child' she's apparently called for doing something that has to do with a Buster Call that happened years ago. I've seen her wanted poster float by here and there.

I grin to her, "He's an asshole who needs to get his ass beat is all," I tell her. "I'd gladly do it but he's not worth my time other than pissing fights"

"'Yaju'? I thought her name was Creed?" Long nose speaks up with a raised brow.

"Kakusare is my last name, and it means 'hidden beast'," I explain to him. "Feel free to call me Creed though".

"What sort of relationship do you have with Trafalgar Law?" The first mate demands coolly. He probably saw the look Law give me; he's not as stupid as he seems to look. And he's not one to trust so quickly it seems.

"Shut up shitty swordsman, it doesn't matter!" A blonde man speaks up with a curly eyebrow over his only visible eye. He turns to me and begins to do some sort of wiggle or noodle dance as he takes my hand from where he stands be low me and kisses the back of it. "It's a pleasure to meet you Hime! I'm Sanji. If there's anything I can do for you, feel free to ask!~"

"Uhhh...Thanks?" I raise a brow at him, more than utterly confused and a little weirded out. "But anyways, to answer your question, I have no relationship with him. Haven't even met him. But I've gotta say that out of the Super Novae, he's one of the best looking. Hell, out of any pirate I've seen, he's one of the best looking". Blessed by the gods of beauty that man has been indeed. All the while, there's crashes and screams of fear or pain as the three men utterly destroy the marines that thought they could take them on. However, they're probably just buying time for an Admiral to get here, and that's when the real fun will begin.

Only when the fighting stops do we realize that the deed has been done and for the lot of us it's time to go. I figure I might as well as go with the Straw Hats just to get out of here. And all was going well until two someones realize that I'm going with said crew.

"Whore! Where do you think you're going?!" I wonder who the hell that was?

I stop my running, falling from Luffy's side and turn to face the angered red head that tried to buy me at the auction, "Away from you so you and Killer can have your alone time. Have fun filling all his holes," I sneer crudely before turning away to run back towards the Straw Hats; I can see them a bit of a distance away but I should be able to catch up soon enough if I leave now.

"Won't you fight with us, Kitsune-ya?" That wonderful voice that belongs to a certain sexy pirate speaks up, his attention given to me as his first mate bear promptly kicks a marine away from Law. The giant of all people is fighting with the Heart Pirates. Good for him.

I smile to him lightly, my attitude making an almost direct one eighty from how I was talking to Kid. I can talk to Law like I did the Straw Hats I figure. "Sorry, I don't feel like fighting right now," I tell him.

"Have you joined Straw Hat-ya's crew?" He questions.

"No," I answer honestly, "But Old Man and I shared a cell before all this fun came along and we kind of became quick friends. He's taking them somewhere and I wanna go where my friend goes".

"I could be your friend as well," he tells me, "Fight with us, and then let's have a short talk, get to know one another".

I want to go see Old Man, and I want to make sure that the Straw Hats get out of here safely. They're nice people; I like them. Still, I don't think they're going anywhere for now. Not while all this nonsense is going on. I sigh and watch as Bartholomew Kuma of all people easily beats away a member of Law's crew. Did he just blast them with some sort of blast from his mouth...? I never heard of Kuma doing that before...The way he lets people hit him sounds like flesh hitting...Metal. "That guy's a robot?"

"So it would seem, Kitsune-ya," nods out, "Will you fight with us or not?"

I sigh and in doing so let out a breath of steam. "I guess...But this doesn't mean that I'm part of your crew. I'm just helping you out," I tell him sternly.

"Of course," Law smiles out.

"Fuck you! When I'm done with this robot, bitch, you're in for a world of a beating you hear me?!" Kid screams at me as he finally realizes just what I've done.

"Shut the fuck up or I'll melt off the tiny bit of pride you call a penis!" I snap out. I sigh and look to the metal beast before me, "Have you tried rather hot fire?" I question the Surgeon of Death.

"Kid-ya has a crew member that fights with fire, yes," Law states.

"No, I said 'rather hot fire', not just normal fire," I tell him. I lift up a hand and meet his stormy gaze with embers from a fire for eyes. My pupils, which have gone from round, to beast like in that they're now slitted and rather thin. "There's a difference between fire, and rather hot fire. Rather hot fire is much more...Powerful". I grin, and raise a clawed hand to let white fire dance on said hand. As a demonstration, I turn and chuck the ball of fire at the metal beast, which it blocks with an arm only for it to begin to melt seconds later. The arm, soon enough, is made useless. It takes some time, but after I've melted that arm into being useless, Law and Kid manage to defeat the metal beast with little to no help from myself. They're strong, very strong. They don't need help from someone like me.

With the fight over, and Kid promising me via threat that I will join his crew even if he has to cut off my limbs and tie me to the mast of his ship, I sigh. I watch as Law takes his crew's well being into his hands first rather than the talk we're supposed to have. Good man, taking care of his crew like he is. My attention is given to the tall man before me as he ever so casually meets my gaze and decides to sit down on the leg of Kuma. I bet he guesses that no other marines will be coming any time soon. His crew doesn't look that badly hurt, not now that the blood is cleaned off and they're bandaged up by the very man that's sitting.

He motions for me to sit as well, "Please sit Kitsune-ya," he motions to the ground before him or the spot next to him. I chose the former and sit down where I am. "What is your name?"

"You weren't paying attention during the auction?" I raise a brow

"I was, however I'd like you to give it to me, not some auctioneer looking to make money," Law states casually, nodachi casually resting against his shoulder as he leans down to use his knees as arm rests so that his hands can dangle casually.

"My name is Kakusare Creed," I greet him simply. "It's nice to meet you".

"The pleasure is all mine," he returns as though we were sitting down for tea and not down on a battle field. "Please, tell me a little bit about yourself".

I raise a brow that obviously prompts what exactly he wants to know, but I only get a smile in return that tells me he'll make do with anything I give him. "I've eaten the Kitsune Kitsune no Mi, and through it I have become a legendary beast called the Kyuubino Kitsune- the Nine Tailed Fox. That is, the Kitsune Kitsune no Mi is a legendary zoan fruit. They say that such a beast can control all the elements and more; with a thrash of a single tail it can create tsunamis. However, I cannot control the four elements, but instead I merely have beyond mastered the element of fire. Fire is heat, heat is energy, energy is light. Heat can be lowered to the point where there is none, and where there is no heat, there is nothing but cold. Because of this cycle, not only can I control fire that burns like you saw against the false Kuma, but also fire that freezes like ice. Because heat is energy, and energy is light, I can generate lightning or just simply electricity. So you see, it's not that the Kyuubi no Kitsune can control all the elements, it's that I have mastered one, and turned it into many".

"So you are resourceful at the very least," Law smiles out, "What a wonderful fruit to have eaten. And I assume you have a nine tailed fox form, no?" I give him a nod. "Fascinating," he coos and I give him a shrug.

"What about you?" I question him, "You ate the Ope Ope no Mi, right?" I get a nod, "Tell me about yourself," I see a flash of anger as I give him a simple order and quickly add on, "Please," to see the anger gone. It seems he doesn't like to be ordered around.

"There is not much about me to be known," he assures casually. "I came from the North Blue and it's there that I formed most of my crew. Bepo is my first mate and I suppose you could call him my best friend. We took our time in traveling through the Grand Line to this point opposed to others such as Straw Hat and Kid, however we're still here," that's all he shares with me.

"You're not going to share more?" I raise a brow.

"I gave you my past and my powers. It's your turn, Kitsune-ya," he smiles out casually making me blink dumbly. So he's strategic if he went so far to do the same as I and the one up me.

I sigh before leaning back on clawed hands, "Well...Let's see. I was born on a pirate ship, raised as a pirate and now live as one. My parents weren't the most famous pirates in the South Blue, but they still made something of a name for themselves. Though I doubt you've ever heard of the Guardian Pirates; my dad was the captain, Kakusare Ichigo and my mom was the chef, Kakusare Shy. Like I said, I was born and raised on a pirate ship up until the lot of them were killed in a fight after putting me on a near by island to keep me safe when I was ten. I don't remember who it was that killed them, just that he was stronger than them. From there I just sailed the ocean blue up to this point without a crew and without a need for one. Enemies I came upon were beaten by me and me alone, and wounds were treated by me, food was made by me, the ship as payed for and navigated by me. You get the gist I'm sure. And now I'm here, talking to you".

"It's quite astounding that a single person was able to do all that," Law states, "You're a truly strong woman, Kitsune-ya".

I give him a shrug, and stand, dusting my beaten and ripped pants. This is my last pair, and its been ripped to smithereens. Same with my shirt; my haori is long gone. "I had to survive so I did by any and all means. That's it. It was nice talking to you, Law, but I should get going. I wanna see how Old Man and the Straw Hats are and then I'm off to find me some clothing to steal".

"I'm sure they're quite fine," Law tells me from his position as I continue to make my way in the direction I remember the Straw Hats going. "You also need clothing? I can provide you with the money you need to get the clothing you want," there's going to be a catch, "Provided you pay me back by becoming part of my crew". There it is.

I stop and sigh, "What's so interesting about me? I'm just a little vixen traveling through the world and doing what she does best: exploring". I don't bother to turn and face him as I speak these words. "I'm not even that strong".

Law makes his way towards me after standing, carrying his nodachi with him as he comes. He stops so he's just behind me, "On the contrary. You're quite powerful for 'just a little vixen'. You melted that Pasifista, something Kid-ya's zombie subordinate couldn't even begin to do. Anyone who has bent the elements to their will like you have, is powerful, Kitsune-ya". And he wants a powerful crew member to be on his powerful crew. "Adventure is always with you if you join the right crew; I'm sure you've never been in the ocean without fear of dying. My submarine will fix that, however the only way you're getting on it is by joining my crew". My eyes widen. I have always wanted to see what it's like under to ocean's surface without worrying about the fact that I'll die. Luckily I have rarely fallen over board and even then I've just barely managed to catch myself. But still, being under the surface of the ocean would be one hell of an adventure. "What do you say, Kitsune-ya? Join my crew, will you?" It's by the time he's done talking, that he's leaning over my shoulder and whispering into my ear. I gulp. Must...Not...Take in scent. Damn it too late. Oh my god he smells good.

But I have my dignity, and as such I move away from his leaning form. "What do you plan to do as a captain? What's your goal?"

"Become King of the Pirates," he tells me simply, "Just like any good pirate would want to be". That means that he'll be fighting Luffy in the future.

"And what about my accommodations?" I demand, "I have a pretty strong feeling that I'll be the only woman on board and I'm not sharing a room with the men".

"...You will have the room next to my own," Law answers firmly, "However the bathroom is conjoined between the two; you'll be sharing with me. I will assure you though that I am a gentleman, and will make no unwanted gesture towards you, and you are permitted to lock my door to the room when you are bathing as I will do the same to your door. I ensure you that my men will also not make a move towards you; I will give them a warning not to. And if they do, you are permitted to put them in their place so long as you do not kill them".

I pause for a long moment, still not looking at him in any sort of way. On one hand, I could go off with the Straw Hats and go on all sorts of life threatening adventures and help those who need it along the way. Or, I could go with Law and go on different types of adventures. Which one should I choose...? Law is still patiently waiting behind me, waiting on my answer. Finally, I make it, "...Fine. Thank you for allowing me to join your crew, Captain Law".

"Please feel free to call me one or the other, but not both," he smiles to me as he takes to my side and places a hand on my bare shoulder. He looks over his shoulder to one of the two men that's not so badly injured, "Penguin! Help Bepo and Jean Bart take the others to the submarine and make her dive. However keep an eye out for myself and our new crew member".

The man named Penguin is dressed in a white boiler room outfit just like everyone save for Jean Bart and Bepo the talking, karate bear first mate. I can't see his eyes since they're hidden by the bill ow his weird hat, but no matter, "Another new member other than Jean Bart Captain?"

"Yes. Kakusare Creed here is going to be joining us on our adventure," he tells his subordinate. I turn after brushing Law's hand off of my shoulder, and greet the man with a simple wave.

He blushes, probably because my shirt is torn and barely hides my bra which is also mostly shredded, and the same goes for my pants. "A-and I-I assume she'll be getting the only empty room we have?" He gets a nod before turning and getting to work.

"Can we get me some clothing now?" I question my newly made Captain. "If you don't mind, I'd also like to get myself a tattoo".

"Tattoo?" Law questions as we begin walking to the shopping and entertainment district. "Of what may I ask?"

"It will be my new crew's symbol. I swore to myself that if I ever ended up joining a crew- or even leading one- I'd get a tattoo of the symbol of that crew on my person to show my loyalty to my captain and my crew. Simple as that," I answer him. "You don't have a problem with that, do you? I mean, you're all marked up and what not".

A calm smile that makes him look almost lazy, which I'm coming to realize is a usual smile for him, "I have no problem with that at all," he tells me as we make it into the market.

I pick a random store that I assume should be filled with all sorts of different styles that I can pick from. And I'm correct by my guess. I'm a simple person though, and I know that no one really cares that you wear the same kind of outfit every day. Therefore what I pick is all black, its stitching red as blood. It's something like a yukata and black priestess pants. The shirt as mentioned is a yukata, however it is meant for a woman, seeing as a sash wraps around my abdomen and buckles in the back instead of tying into a bow. The collar is wide and low, resting on my shoulders loosely but the halves that are folded over under the sash are folded over tight enough that my bust isn't too close to being shown but not smothered. The right sleeve is more like a short short sleeve, while the left one is a full sleeve and flows as it should. My pants as mentioned are basically black priestess pants, and ass such the only thing that holds them up are the draw and tie strings in the front which I do just that. I wear waraji on my feet. After asking Law not to follow me into the section where women can buy toiletries and undergarments, I pick out black of the garments as well and get toiletries that will last me a good while so that I'm not bleeding all over the place while we look for an island to stop at. Once I'm dressed and Law has payed for the multiple copies of this outfit that I gathered up, we head off. However, the direction he leads me in is not further into the shopping district.

"Where are we going?" I question, "What about my tattoo?" The bags with my new belongings are slung over my shoulder casually.

Law has held his smile this whole time, as he seems to so effortlessly do, "That, I will be doing myself".

My eyes widen and I stop for a second, "H-hold on now..._You're_ doing the tattoo?"

"Is that so bad?" He questions as he turns to wait for me.

Not really, but, "It was going to be a place that's visible but I'd have to take my pants off for. It'd be kind of...Awkward if you did it since I'd see you every day afterwards when the person who did it here would never see me again most likely".

"I assure you, I will take everything on a professional level. Let us go," he turns and begins walking off again, leaving me to jog to catch up and bite my lip. This is gonna be really weird.


	2. Chapter 2

_Just in case there are any smart asses out there- or idiots- those that aren't cannon crew members of Law's crew are obviously all mine. While I did not make up what they look like (thank you google images) I did create their names, abilities and personalities. _

**Chapter 2: Welcome...Crew Mates**

The sub is a lot bigger than I figured it'd be. For whatever reason I thought it'd be smaller, however it's the same size of a well sized ship. I got the basic tour from my captain as soon as we stepped onto the metal contraption which had only rose just enough for us to enter and then dove under the surface again. The hallways are just big enough for two people to get passed one another with no issue, and they're fairly well light which is nice. The upper most floor, the one that's higher than even the deck, is the observation and navigation room. That's all there is on that floor. The second floor, which the deck leads to by a staircase of shallow steps, has the medical bay- which is the biggest room on said floor, and the Captain's quarters and now my own private quarters. Below that are two rooms for the men, their shared bathroom, and a place to work out as well as the boiler room where the engine and what not is maintained. It's during this tour that I'm told that every member on this crew has a job that he must do. Sachi and Penguin are those that maintain the engine, where as Jean Bart has the new job of making sure we have enough money to do what we please. The navigator, a red head with green eyes, by the name of Syn an older age than the rest of us, and a kind person all, does as his title says. He navigates this yellow metal contraption as though he were the helmsman on a real ship.

"Kitsune-ya," Law speaks up as we enter the kitchen which is conjoined to the mess hall. I've long since gotten used to being called that little nickname he seems to like calling me; at least it refers to my pirate name 'Kyubbi no Kitsune'. "How good of a chef are you?"

I raise a brow at him. Is he expecting me to become the chef of this vessel? "I'm fairly good I suppose. I didn't starve myself to death when I was on my own, if that's what you're getting at".

Law lets out a light chuckle before stating, "Then from this point on, you will be our chef. Lyst, someone you'll meet at dinner, has been working as both ship master and chef up until now".

"Ship master?" I raise a brow.

"Yes. He built this submarine, and taught Sachi and Penguin how to take care of the engines when he realized that he'd have two jobs. Now he can go back to joining those two and make sure everything is well when he needs to. As chef you will prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, the only ones you really need to prepare breakfast for are for Syn, yourself and myself. Breakfast goes from seven in the morning to eleven, and lunch occurs from noon until one in the afternoon. Dinner should occur no later than eight in the evening. As chef, you will have the duty of making sure we have enough food to get us through at least three to four weeks as well as keep the mess hall as well as the dishes. Your duty will start tomorrow morning. For now we will get your tattoo taken care of. Follow me". That said, he turns and leads the way out of the kitchen through the mess hall. This leads us to a shallow stair case back up to the 'third' floor so to speak. From there we're lead to the medical bay. "Sit," he motions to a bed and I do as I'm told.

"When are we going to the new world?" I question with a tilt of my head as I watch him gather what he needs. Gloves, a needle for the actual artwork, stuff to make my skin softer, and of course cotton balls and Q-tips for when blood gets in the way.

"We will be staying here for a while. Mainly due to Fire Fist Ace's scheduled execution. We have no reason to rush into the new world; let those who are in a hurry take one another down. And when I decide that it's time for us to leave, we will dive down to Fishman Island and cross over the Red Line into the New World". As he was talking, he had been setting up what he needed to in order to go through with this tattooing. What, did he mark up himself or something? That'd be extremely hard to do...But I don't see it past him. "Now, where do you want this and how big?"

And this is where things get a little awkward. I bite my lip and point to my upper outer thigh, "I want it as big as this," I hold up one hand and point to my palm. That should be big enough. I'm not much of a tattoo person for myself, but this is showing my loyalty to this guy, and therefore basically sealing the deal between he and I.

There's a pause, and I can't help but look up, slightly embarrassed. This is why I didn't want him doing this. "Aright," he tells me, "Pull off your pants and cover all but that leg". He pauses before turning to show he won't look. Thank you. I do as told, working quickly and as silently as my hands will allow me just in case no one can walk in and see my black undies. At least I shaved the day before I got caught. I don't know why that matters but...He's a guy, a good looking guy, I don't want him taking note of how hairy my legs are when he thinks of me for whatever reason. "You're fine with needles, yes?" I give him a nod, "Good". And so he begins his work. I admit I have to hold back from not letting my fire defend me as it would any other time some sort of weapon- and in his hands even a needle is one, this my body realizes- and therefore keep myself from accidentally melting the metal and burning his hand, as well as turning that portion of my leg into fire itself. Because of this concentration, I actually bleed as any normal person would. As he stops the outlining of the tattoo, I look to see that it's nothing but just that, an outlining that obviously isn't permanent just yet. However, once he actually sets on putting the ink into my skin, I realize that his is forever- that is unless I burn away the tattoo and simply have a round scar on my leg. I watch as with precise and practically perfect strokes he runs over the out lining of the marks he made only moments before, and then as he fills in what needs to be filled in. The end result is an almost perfect copy of the very symbol on his shirt. The only difference is that instead of there being six protrusions from the smiley, there are nine tails, each bending and curling to form a heart under it. It's a bit bigger than I wanted it, but it still looks rather nice, so I don't complain. He places a special gauze over the tattoo to keep it from getting ruined or infected, and then stands and turns to take care of his tools and the now dirty and useless needle. I quickly stand and pull up my pants, pulling the draw strings nice and tight.

"Are we done?" I ask with a tilt of my head.

"Yes. However, it's time for you to meet the other crew members," he tells me as he finishes putting away his tools. "Come". It is then that he leads me back to the mess hall, where I already see other people sitting here. Two of which I personally met- Jean Bart and Syn, the navigator- three I've seen, and one I've heard of. "Gentlemen," Law calls to attention the men as they had been talking amongst themselves, "As of today, we have two new crew members. One of which, you may have noticed, is female. She is not to be approached unless she approaches you first in terms of sexuality. Do I make myself clear?" The last few words are obviously much more stern than the others, prompting my crew mates to nod firmly to our captain. "Good". It's from there that Law leaves my side, heading for the head of the table and sitting himself there whilst propping his nodachi against the chair and his feet on the table. I find my own spot next to none other than Syn himself. "Now...If you would please introduce yourselves, we will do the same in turn. You two are now part of the crew; it's best we know enough about you to get along as much as we can". Of course.

Jean Bart takes the step first, sitting across from me and two seats down. He's a stern looking man, and of course rather large due to the giant blood in him. The fact that he fits on this sub tells me just how big this thing really is. Why didn't I notice it before? None the less, he introduces himself and a little bit of his past of being from a humble island of giants, when he had decided to become a pirate as a lad and try to sail the ocean blue to One Piece like so many others. He doesn't go into how he was captured and made a slave, but apparently he was a well known captain before his capture, something that Law supports with his own knowledge of the giant as well. He tells us of his helmsman capabilities as well as navigation skills meaning that because of this, Syn won't have to stay up all night and day for the most part doing his job. They'll now have shifts according to our Captain.

Of course it's my turn next, and by the time Jean Bart is done talking, I can already see Law's eyes on me and a small smile on his face as per usual. I offer my crew mates a small smile before introducing myself as who I am, Kaskusare 'Kyubbi no Kitsune' Creed. I tell them of my young age of simply nineteen, and of my parents Ichigo and Shy. I tell them of the basics of what I can do. All in all, I tell them everything I told Law earlier. That is, up until this point, "Mmmm...I've gotta say my favorite food is stuffed peppers, and I love fruit just as much as I love meat. I'm a hand to hand fighter, but I do incorporate my abilities into my fighting. I do have a bounty, and I guess I could be considered a Super Nova if I had a crew- well, now a do but the navy doesn't know that yet- since I have a bounty of 180,000,000 beli. I've stolen a lot, and I've caused a lot of destruction in my fights since I'm only one person normally going against at least five or six decently strong men. And since I started my pirate career from a very young age, well, you get the idea. Umm...Let's see...I'm not a huge fan of taking orders from anyone. So you'll get a fight out of me if you order me around with no reason to stand for it. And...I guess the rest you'll just have to learn".

There's silence until Penguin speaks up. I assume his eyes are wide since his words are rather slow and unsure, "So...We're the third crew to have more than one Super Nova on it...?"

"Looks like it, Penguin," Law smirks out, clearly pleased by this factor. "Now...How about you go first then?"

Penguin tilts his head, pointing at himself as he does so as confirmation. When he gets a nod he turns to face my and Jean Bart's end of the table but I can see him mainly facing me. "It's awesome to meet you both and have you join our crew. And it's even better that we have a pretty lady to help make this dank place seem more interesting," he friendly starts off, a smile directed at me kindly. Thank whoever it's not pervish or else I would have beaten this shit out of him then and there. "Like Captain here, I'm from the North Blue, a few islands away from Captain's home actually. I don't really have that exciting of a past, seeing as I was just your average boy who worked on a farm with his parents and played when he could with his friends. Like most of us, I'm pretty good with martial arts, and I guess I'm pretty strong. I'm not much of a morning person though, so sorry if I wake up earlier than I should and I snap at you if you see me and try to talk to me. Other than that...Well we're just gonna have to party to get to know each other better".

"I guess I'll go next then," the brown haired man at Penguin's side states, his vision- I can't really tell due to the sun glasses- mainly focused on me but his smile to both Jean Bart and I. "I'm this idiot's best friend; we grew up on the same island so I come from the North Blue too. My name is Shachi. I'm honestly just your average guy despite being a pirate and working under the Captain, but still. I love to have fun, but I can get serious. As you may or may not know, I work in the boiler room when things need to be maintained, but normally if you need me you can find me in the dojo". Man, these two were actually kind of boring. I figured they'd be more eccentric than this being part of Law's crew. Maybe they're just playing it safe?

And so the line goes on. I learn that Syn is in his late twenties, but he can't remember his own birthday due to long term amnesia which according to Law doesn't look like is going to ever fully heal. All he knows is that he's from the North blue, but pretty close to the Red Line in terms of where his island sat in the ocean. He knows he has- or had- a family, a mom, a dad and a little brother but he can't remember where exactly they live nor the name of his island. The only place his directional skills are up to par is when he's in the observation room or simply in the sub. Otherwise, he's useless and normally just ends up staying on the sub so he doesn't get lost. That is, unless he's drug away from the sub by someone else- normally Penguin and Shachi. As I mentioned before, Syn has red hair and green eyes that remind me of a tiger, and he's built like the walls of this very vessel; solid and nothing more nor less. Unlike Shachi and Penguin- whom I've come to realize are really the only ones who actually wear them- he doesn't wear a boiler suit. Instead he settles for a black muscle shirt with a white version of our jolly roger on the back, the protrusions made to look like they're blades. It turns out that although he's big and burly, he fights with two rather heavy, and much larger than the normal size, sais. He keeps them holstered at his hips so that they're ready to go at all times.

Bepo doesn't really have much to say, other than that he was found by Law as a cub and has been with him since- a short story I found cute and slightly touching. After all, who can imagine a young Surgeon of Death helping a cute little polar bear cub from whatever dangers lurk in the wilderness.

Lyst is a fair looking boy, and I was surprised to find out that he's actually younger than me. Seriously, the creator and over all ship master of this thing is only seventeen years old! How the hell does that work?! Still, due to his fair complexion he looks almost feminine, but I can tell by the tone of his voice and simply by his clothing that he is all male. He's tall, around Law's height, and built like a swimmer, lean and muscled well with no fat on his person to speak of. His hair is short and silver, with bangs framing his face and slightly obscuring his eyes, and his eyes are heterochromic. According to Law, that means that the irises of his eyes are different colors. And indeed they are. One eye is blue like some sort of gem, while the other is like molten gold. And to go with that molten gold eye, is a black sclera. He was born and raised in a lab on the Grand Line up until he was fifteen when Law ended up saving him by simply being at the right place at the right time and having a decent amount of interest in him. That was back when Law had a ship instead of a submarine. Lyst created this baby in thanks to the Super Nova for saving him. He's not as open as the others, but I can tell that if someone were to just try to get to know him I'm sure he'd be pretty nice. Otherwise he keeps to himself for the most part. Though I did get a 'thank you' for taking over being a chef by him. Despite the fact that he'd probably be more useful in the boiler room, Law decides to make him his medical assistant due to his experience in such a field. The shirt he wears is short sleeved and black with the collar being tall and popped up, flaring around his neck and his face. The shirt is open and showing off his toned chest until it hits the bottom of his chest where intricate buckles keep the shirt closed. His pants are black slacks and his shoes of a durable yet decent enough make to snot stand out against his clothing. A white cloak rests on his torso, buckling to just where his shoulders and arms meet with more intricate buckles that look almost like blades. Like everyone save Law and Syn, he fights with his hands and feet.

With the introductions over, my tattoo gotten, and the tour given, it's time for the lot of us to go do our own thing. Mine is to sleep. The time I spent in that auction house cell wasn't spent sleeping. Sea stone makes you tired and weak, but you actually can't go to sleep for some reason. And with the amount they piled on me, I hadn't gotten any sleep. So after wishing the men a good night and thanking Law for both the tour and the new art work on my leg, I head off to my room. I sigh as I lock the door behind it with one of the two keys to the door; Law has the other one that he said would be used for emergencies should he need to get to me and the door is locked. I like these guys, honest I do. Penguin and Shachi are your average woman-loving males, Lyst doesn't seem like he'd do anything, Syn seems more of the big brother type, Jean Bart is like Lyst in that he doesn't look like he's interested on trying to make a move, and Bepo is...Well he's Bepo. I'm pretty sure he only likes other bears.

Anyways...My room is a lot more decorated than I thought it'd be. Now, don't take that as an 'extravagance everywhere' kind of thing, because when I say what I said, I mean that I was expecting bland walls and a cold and unforgiving floor. However, my floor is covered in an off white- cream- colored carpet that seems to be just enough to keep my feet warm in the morning. There's a single port hole in the blank wall of my room across from my simple twin sized bed. There's a book case, as well as a dresser and a closet for things that should be folded and hung respectively. The second door in the room- as the closet doesn't have one for whatever reason- leads to the bathroom. It's white tiled and off white walled, the opposite color scheme of my room. On my left are two sinks with simple counter top surrounding them to be used as space for various things. Below are two separate cabinets, where other things can go, and above is a single medicine cabinet. To the right of my bathroom door is the toilet and the standing shower that has enough room for two people of Law's size to fit and easily move around without bumping into one another. On the other side of the shower is a closet full of white towels of various sizes, each neatly folded. I wonder who does the laundry around here? Where is the laundry room around here? They're bound to have one. I'll worry about it later.

I sigh and leave the bathroom to take care of my things. Shirts, my black robe, and various colored slightly see through night gowns go in the closet. Pants, bras, socks, undies and toiletries go in the other four drawers with bras and undies sharing one and the others having one of their own. After that's done, I decide it's time for a shower. I grab the shampoo and conditioner, as well as body was and scrubbing poof, and then open up the bathroom and look around curiously. No sign of Law. Good. I lock his door that leads to the bathroom, and then do the same for my door before stripping and laying my clothing to the side. Into the shower I go, however my eyes widen and a yelp escapes me. Why? Because this shower has no god damn heat that's why! I loathe cold water with a fiery passion. And so, I sit there and wait for the hot water to come along for five damn minutes, shivering my poor ass off, before actually managing to start taking a shower. Most would call the temperature I shower at scalding. I call it nice and warm. So, once I'm nice and warmed up, I start the process of washing myself. Shampoo and conditioner of course go in the hair, with the latter of the two sitting there longer than the former. And while the conditioner is sitting, I lather my body in the welcoming scent of vanilla and almond milk. It's a gentle scent that only lingers slightly once the shower is done. However, I love the smell; I love the smell of vanilla in general. Twenty minutes later and I'm nice and clean and wrapping myself in a towel when there's a knock on Law's side of the door.

"Kitsune-ya? Are you quite finished in there?" He questions in that lazy drawl of his.

I yelp a bit and turn to face his door, imagining him standing there with a hand in his pocket or something and a hand on the door knob, "Give me a quick second!" I request, quickly gathering my things while I wander around in nothing but a towel.

"Kitsune-ya," Law states lowly, "You should know that I do not take orders well from anyone. Least of all my subordinates".

Oh for the love of- What the hell?! He said he'd be a gentleman about this! I glare at his door."Well too bad," I snap, "I'm currently naked and I don't want you seeing me in nothing but a towel. So just wait".

"Very well...," oh good, he's realized that I'm not just taking a dump or something of the sort, "It seems I'll be breaking the door down". What?! "I just informed you that I do not take orders well, and you did not heed my warning. You've brought this upon yourself". Before I can even think of staying to see if he really will break down the door, I bolt out of there like a bat out of hell opening and slamming my door closed before rapidly locking it. He better not think about breaking this door down too damn it! I hear his footsteps closer to my door as I lean against it with a pounding heart in my chest. "Thank you for leaving. I would not have had to threaten you if you had just listened to my orders in the first place".

"I just wanted you to wait for a minute!" I snap with a growl, bearing my fangs at the thin air in front of me.

"Simply do not order me again," Law states from the other side of the door before stepping away to do as he pleases. I hear a shuffling of clothing as I still lean against said door and jolt when I realize that he's taking a shower himself. Okay Creed, time to get away from the door and no thinking bad thoughts!

I sigh, forcing my heart to slow down as I push off my bathroom door and head for the closet for a night gown and then walk on over to get a pair of shorts just meant for sleeping in. Lucky for me, the area around my bust is a solid black, while the rest of it is a basically see through black. I know I'm the only woman on here, but this is the only type of sleeping gown that I liked. It's not too long either. Not in the front at least. With its cut a little on the low side and the sleeves flowing and long, the skirt of the gown short- to about my knees- in the front and long- to my ankles- in the back. I sigh and decide to call it a night, slipping under the covers of my bed. However, due to the new environment it takes me a little while to get to sleep. It's about half an hour before I finally fall into the dream world and away from reality.

Morning hits me much quicker than I'd prefer, and it leaves me in a not so happy mental state. I growl as I get up and take a minute or two to remember just where the hell I am. When I see the water through the port hole, I'm a bit shocked up until I actually do remember. And from there I stand and stretch for a good couple seconds, hands reaching for the ceiling and me up on my tippy toes. Once that's done, I get myself ready for the day. Brushing my hair, hanging up my gown and putting my sleeping shorts into a clothes basket that I just realized was there. Bra, undies, newly usual clothing, socks and finally my waraji go on my person before I'm ready to go. Out my bedroom door after locking my bathroom door, I go and I lock that door as well. What can I say? I don't want any men going through my things. The sub is quiet as I walk through the hallway and to one of the stair cases that leads to the next floor. Into the kitchen I go and I set to my job here for the first time. The main issue wasn't getting used to how things worked- the stove and what not- but instead where everything was. The place was a mess in terms of organization! And the dishes that had been supposed the clean, weren't all that clean at all. Over all it doesn't look like Lyst was much of a house keeper when it came to this place. So, the first thing I do is reorganize everything while I think of something simple to make. Well, not so much as simple, but something that wouldn't produce too much. Eventually I decide on an omelet that everyone that's awake could enjoy. And so off to the pantry I go to see what we've got. I sigh and purse my lips; we've gotta stock up as it is it seems; the shelves are almost empty, and so is the fridge. Luckily there's eggs that I can use, and some other things like onions, green and red peppers and some bacon and cheese. After grabbing all that, I place the things on the counter and set to making some coffee that I'm sure someone other than myself will want.

After chopping up the peppers and onions and lightly frying them in a pan with butter, I go ahead and put an egg and milk mixture into said pan and let it cook. While that's going on, I make my way around the kitchen looking for a pad and paper so I can remember better what we do and don't need. Law said keep this place stocked up so that if need be we can go weeks without needing to find an island or simply waste away should we be between islands in our travels. However since we'll be here for a while, the last part doesn't matter for now. Back into the pantry I go to find that we need practically...Everything. Makings for different pastas, meat dishes, veggie dishes, an assortment of basically everything I know how to cook- which is a lot for someone who is self taught. Never the less the same goes for the fridge. I need milk and other drinks, more eggs and meat I can store away in here as mentioned...Maybe I should put down desert makings just in case I feel like making something sweet. So...Fruits and sugar, more coffee would be good, and flower, brown sugar, extracts and spices...Creme for the coffee...I think that's it. Fish can be caught. I return to my omelet and find it to be ready to go, servable to what I think is enough for two men and one me. Three plates, two of which are on trays along with coffee, an amount of sugar and cream and toast should they want some.

The first place I head up to is the navigation room, where I find none other than the red head that is Syn casually sitting in a chair and reading a book. The fact that I was right in thinking someone was here surprises me. After all I would have thought he'd be taking the opportunity to sleep in for what I a guessed was the first time in a while. But that's not the case as I'm greeted by a grinning man after I knock on the door frame with my foot to show him that I'm coming in.

Green tiger like eyes turn my way as they leave the book he had been reading- on what it's about I don't know- and turn up to show that he's smiling. "Ah, good morning Creed," the man greets, setting down his book onto his leg, "What's makin' ya so kind to go so far as to bring me breakfast? You do know there's another way to call us to ya, right?"

I smile to the older man and shrug, handing over the tray as he takes it, "I wasn't sure if you were awake or not so I figured I'd come and check things out," is my simple answer.

"Well, I'm awake," he chuckles, "Even if I want to, I can't really catch up on sleep. I'm too used to working on coffee and little hours to just transition so quickly thanks to this little break we have". He tells me as he does as he wishes with the omelet. "You made this?" He questions with wide eyes after a few bites and a sip of the drink I brought. I give him a nod. "Glad you're our cook then. This is way better than what Lyst makes," he chuckles out after another bite. "That second tray is for the Captain right?" Another nod. "You'll probably find him either in his room or in the medical bay- I'd check the latter first though. And I'd hurry up; 'e doesn't like it when 'is food gets cold".

My eyes widen and I look down to the no longer piping hot food that I had ready for Law himself and I curse, "Damn it all. I'll see you later Syn; maybe I'll come visit you after breakfast or something". That said I turn and bolt my way back down the shallow stepped stairs and all the way to the floor with the medical bay on it. I walk through the swinging door without a second thought and look around. He's not in this area of the bay, and I don't really hear any movement. Still, I wander further into the bay and take a right to walk through a door-less arch to find a more so office like place; filing cabinets and what not as well as a desk. This is probably where he keeps the medical stuff of the crew. With no sign of him here, I turn and head out of the bay and go for next door. The door to his room is closed, but when I go to push it open, I feel no resistance telling me that either he doesn't lock his door when he leaves, or he's in there. I stop pushing ever so slightly and settle for knocking.

"Come in," what I hear his muffled voice state, and I open the door to find him awake. His room is a bite less simple than my own, but it's also darker themed as well with a dark carpet and walls. His bed is king sized, and his room over all is a good bit bigger than my own. He's sitting casually in a rather comfortable looking chair, which over it hangs a lamp. Like Syn, he's reading. But from this angle I can see a title with some words on it that are long and I figure that he's reading a medical book. For research or pleasure, I haven't the slightest.

"I've got breakfast," I tell him as his gaze lands on me, and then the tray balanced on my hand. "Set your book aside and I'll give it to you," there's a narrowing of his eyes, and I sigh. Even that simple order? As I don't bother to correct myself, his gaze becomes darker and darker; like a storm is steadily growing.

"Kitsune-ya," he states evenly, "Have you forgotten about last night's ordeal?" Hell no. "I do not take to being ordered well. Especially by my subordinates". The storm in his eyes becomes a bit more harsh.

"It's just a simple request," I insist with a roll of my eyes, "Do you want breakfast or not?"

"No," is his immediate answer. "I can see from here that it is cold, meaning you either ate before coming here, or you served someone before me. Not only that, but you insist on ordering me around despite the fact that giving orders is the Captain's job. You are not the Captain; you should not be giving orders".

"What do you mean 'no'? Sorry I went to go see Syn first, but I'm sure you're hungry. You fought that robot thing yesterday and I don't think you had diner. I'm just trying to do my job as the new chef," I snap out.

"I gave you an explanation on why I don't want your food. Feel free to give that to Syn as well; I'm sure he would be grateful. However, I will not be eating anything of your make until you realize your error," Law states, and promptly goes back to his book. "And it seems by your stubbornness, I'll be starving until we surface again, thus showing that you fail at your simple task".

My eyes by now are wide with frustration and my grip on the tray two handed and rather unforgiving. "You...You can't do that! I'm trying, but you won't do something because my request sounded like an order to you!"

"I can do that, I am the Captain. If you want me to eat, then I suggest you make the food warm as well as rephrase your request," his gaze doesn't leave the novel.

A snarl rips through my throat. Asshole. The only reason I'm complying by making the food warm is I'll feel bad if he doesn't eat. After all, it's my job to keep him healthy and full of food. "Fine," I snarl, the food nice and warm again by my simple command, "Please, great and powerful Captain Law, future King of the Pirates, place your book to the side to that I may be honored by you eating my humbly made meal". I don't dare look at him as I crush down my pride and request this of him as he told me to do. Asshole. However I can feel his eyes on me as soon as I speak up again.

"You didn't have to add on anything else but please, but I do like the fact that you went so far as to flatter me. Do that more often," his smile is taunting and the storm that had been in his eyes is passed.

"Like hell I'll do that more often," I snap out and hand him his tray before turning to leave.

"Stay until I finish my meal," he keeps me from even getting five feet closer to the door.

My brows furrow, "Why?"

Law smirks my way, "So you can take my dishes and clean them of course". I twitch. You've got to be fucking kidding me.

"Do I look like a maid to you?" I question with a growl, turning to face him again.

"When it comes to anything and everything food, yes. You do," he continues to wear that infuriating smirk. I scoff, and begin to make my way away. However, something happens that I wasn't expecting. "Room," I hear him utter and a clear blue dome appears around us. Next thing I know, I'm a half yard away from where I once was standing and am instead sitting on the armrest of his chair. In my place is the book he had been reading. I blink stupidly. "I told you not to leave; I hate those who disregard my orders as much as I hate being given them. Stay here until I'm finished eating," he tells me after a bite of the food. Damn it, my food's getting cold! A few bites of food later and a preparation of his coffee, he looks to me. "After lunch, you and Jean Bart will be going with me to get what food supplies we need. Then we'll be staying on the island to watch Fire Fist's execution".

"Why are we going to watch the death of Fire Fist?"

"I feel as though something interesting may happen," he states simply.

That said, while he keeps the coffee cup, he gives me back the tray and again I'm moved against my will before I can register just what's going on. I scoff with a roll of my eyes and leave, determined to actually go eat. When I return to the kitchen- finally- I find an empty tray and dishes next to the sink and smile. At least someone was nice enough to bring their stuff down. I set down Law's tray and then turn to my own now stone cold omelet that with a simple gesture I warm to perfect temperature. After the first bite, the rest of it is gone in no time, as is the coffee. And in no time at all, I'm washing the dishes to a clean shine. By the time I'm done, I find that I've got about three hours before I have to cook again. Plenty of 'me time' to spend working out in the dojo. Well, for my martial art it's called dojang, but no matter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Showers and Stories**

The floor of the room is wooden as it should be, its walls laced with various things. One with punching bags that hang on chains and simple metal bars. Another wall covered in various weapons whose racks are firmly held to the walls incase we have to suddenly move about. The third wall is in the same condition as the second, save that it's got weights instead of weapons. I have no interest in the second and third walls though. Instead, I do a bit of stretching and then warm my body up with a bit of light air sparring. My body punching and kicking before I know exactly what I'm doing. And not long after words, I'm hitting one of the bags, causing it to swing this way and that and its chain to rattle. Back fists, turn kicks, full on punches, angle punches, hooking kicks, side piercing kicks, flying thrusting kicks, standing thrusting kicks, elbow jabs. You name it, I'm laying it into the poor bag that had already seen better days. I can't really do anything that requires my claws, as they're not just for show, seeing as that would hurt the bag more than it needs to be hurt. But still I'm having fun in making the bag swing and hitting at it as though it were a real person to spar. I don't know how long it's been, but as I decide to take a break I kick the back one more time, causing its chains to groan in protest while the bag manages to swing and touch the ceiling. I catch it as it comes back down before the chains can take any more damage and force it to a stop. It's after this that I hear a pair of hands clapping. Who I see isn't who I was expecting. At the very least I expected to see Law or Syn, or maybe Shachi and Penguin. But instead, leaning against the door's frame, is none other than Lyst himself.

There's a light smirk on his handsome face, and his mismatched eyes show me that he's both impressed and if I'm reading him right he's feeling...playful? I thought he was the stoic kind of guy? "You're pretty good," he speaks up, pushing off from the door frame and making his way towards me. With the way he walks and how tall he is, I'd never figure him to be two years younger than me. The baby fat on his face is gone too so he looks older because of that too. "What martial art are you trained in?" By the time he's done talking, I've turned to fully face him and he's a few feet from myself.

"TaeKwon Do," I answer simply.

"Really? More of a street fighter myself," he states honestly. "How high did you get up to?"

"I'm not a master, but I wasn't taught in a school if that's what you're getting at," is my simple answer.

He's silent for a moment, "...What would you say to a spar?"

I tilt my head lightly before smiling to him and rolling my shoulders, "I've had a good warm up, so why not?"

Lyst's POV

It's been two years since I joined my Captain's crew, and for all of those two years I've mostly kept to myself. How can I not when I'm surrounded by men that are older than me, and don't know the pain of going through what I did? Still, I like it here. I get to keep an eye on my sub and I get to explore the world and take down marine scum. That's all I really want to do for the rest of my life. There are pirate hunters out there, why shouldn't there be marine hunters? I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this way. But still, even if I only make a tiny dent in their numbers, I'm happy with the blood on my hands.

Meeting two new crew members wasn't that comfortable for me; I'm not a very social person. But it did turn out to be interesting. I've never met a giant before, but I'm lucky I made my baby big enough to hold one as Jean Bart is beyond tall. And now we have a woman on the crew and taking my job as chef- something I didn't take much care to do properly and just did enough to keep the lot of us alive. She's the more interesting one out of her and Jean Bart. Not only is she pretty, but she's also got an interesting background. Only knowing the life of freedom as a pirate; that's basically the exact opposite of my own. And it fascinates me. Not only that, but she's a Super Nova. No where near as strong as the Captain, but still really strong.

It's the night of meeting Creed, and I can't get her out of my head. She's beautiful, strong, and seems like a fairly decent person. I'm not that social, but I'm also a guy. I'm willing to become social if that means I can talk to a pretty woman. I sigh as I lean against the wall of my shower stall, the hot water rushing along my body soothingly. Another, this time longer, sigh comes from me.

"What are you sighing about Lyst?" Shachi questions from the stall next to me, standing up on the sitting stool each of the stalls has so that he can look over our conjoining wall and look down at me. I make sure that my legs are crossed so that he can't see anything. He's straight, but I still don't want his eyes wandering.

Another voice pops over the other conjoined wall, and I see Penguin copying Shachi, "Thinkin' about Creed?"

"Nah, he's gotta be thinkin' about Jean Bart," Shachi jokes, "Of course he's thinking about Creed! We've finally got a bad ass hot woman on our crew!"

"Good thing too, this place was becoming too much of a sausage fest for me," Penguin grins out.

"You are a sausage fest, you goof," Shachi scoffs at his best friend. Seriously, they're more like brothers than anything else. And the only reason I really talk to them is because they're basically my students for the most part. I taught them to maintain the boiler room after all. "But seriously, what's got you sighing little man?" …..I'm taller than them. Idiots.

"She...Seems interesting," I admit as the hot water continues to flow over me.

"Oh ho! So you really are thinking about her!" The black haired of the two laughs out, dark brown eyes full of playfulness. "She's interesting huh?"

"How so?" Shachi follows up. There's a reason that he's constantly wearing those glasses even when he takes the hat off. But I won't get into that.

"Her life story is the exact opposite of mine...Nothing but freedom and the sea. I want to know more what that's like. Women don't often become Super Novae either. I want to know more about her. Where in the South Blue she came from, how she came to eat the Kitsune Kitsune no Mi, where she's been, what's she like. Is she up to par on how strong they say she is?" All such questions run through my head. "However, I just don't know how to approach her," I admit.

"Hehehe, that's easy," Penguin tells me with a shrug. "Find a time when she's all alone and simply say 'hi".

Shachi scoffs, "You make it sound like he has to stalk her. No wonder you haven't been laid in weeks. Listen Lyston," that's my real name, however I prefer the shortened version, "She looks like the kind that'll do her duty and then go for a work out; she's the physical kind of person I predict. You're normally an early riser since you've been making us lunch and dinner for the past two years. Just, after you wake up, wait until after breakfast and then go down to the dojo. If she's in there, awesome. If not, better luck next time".

"And you're positive that doing that may work?" I question with a raised brow.

Shachi shrugs, "Girls like guys who aren't stalkerish," he jerks a head in the direction of Penguin, "And aren't pushy. Why do you think when women see the Captain and how laid back but strong he is, they want to get into his pants instantly? I don't know why he doesn't take the offer, I know I would, but that's another subject entirely".

I sigh and purse my lips, "...Fine, I'll give it a try". That said, they get down from their perches and I finish washing myself up quickly and efficiently before getting out and dressing for bed.

The next morning I do exactly as Shachi told me to do. Wake up and wait till after breakfast to go down to the dojo to see if she's there. If she isn't, oh well. If she is, approach her. She is there, just like Shachi predicted. But I can't bring myself to approach her like he told me to. After all, when I'm working out I don't like to be bothered. Maybe she's the same? The best I can do is watch from the doorway. I watch as she first stretches her legs out by throwing out a few slow kicks just to get her blood moving. And upon the fourth kick she falls into a split, sitting and sitting up straight as though doing so doesn't hurt her at all. She curls her back leg up and bends her torso back to meet her head with her foot. This is repeated, though with her other leg behind her the second time through. After punches are thrown, she walks around in a handstand before falling into a standing position. From there she heads over to one of the swinging punching bags along the wall right across from me. It's from there that she actually starts getting into whatever work out she has planned for herself. Hands and legs and feet and arms move faster than I can follow, and I'm up there with Bepo of all people in terms of speed and strength. No where near Captain of course, but still. I watch as she bounces from place to place like some sort of constantly striking predator. The poor bag and its chains swing and groan in protest with each harsh hit for the next hour and a half before she finally stops. Her hands are red and so are her bare feet- when did she take off her shoes? Her hair looks to be drenched in sweat. Once I'm sure she's done, I begin to clap from the leaning position I had long since taken to. She turns to face me, and I see that even her face is dripping with sweat. Ember eyes land on my blue and golden ones. "You're pretty good". I push off of my position and make my way into the dojo, stopping just a few feet from her. "What martial art are you trained in?"

"TaeKwon Do," she responds simply.

"Really? More of a street fighter myself," if not a brawler, "How high did you get up to?" She must have been taught by someone to have an actual martial art, right? What pirate has the time to teach a child?

"I'm not a master, but I wasn't taught in a school if that's what you're getting at," she wasn't? How odd.

I'm silent for a moment. Think Lyston, think! What now? "...How about a spar?" That's the best you could think of? Your people skills really need work, Lyst.

"...I've had a good warm up. Why not?" She smiles at me lightly, and I can't help but smirk myself. Hopefully I can hold my own.

We make our way to the center of the room just to make things easier before suddenly she suddenly falls into a fighting stance. I look her over carefully, watching as she bounces on the balls of her feet as though she hadn't just beaten the shit out of a bag for the past hour and a half. Her arms are much more relaxed than the were before as she doesn't even mean to move them as she bounces it seems. There's a wide grin on her face as she faces me, only giving me her ribs as a target from straight on. I myself fall into a more straight forward fighting stance, only giving her part of my ribs and some of my front as my hands come up to defend me. While she's bouncing, I'm firmly planted. With a mutual 'go' by locking our eyes with one another, I'm the first one to come at her with a dusting of punches. She however easily dances around these despite the speed that I'm told is rather impressive for someone who isn't a fruit eater. It's after a few more dancing steps that she comes in and lands a punch in my solar plexus, making me grunt and back off with a wheeze. Where did that come from?

"You okay?" She questions, still bouncing, "I'm trying not to hurt you," she tries to assure.

I blink. Trying? "I'm fine," I manage after I've caught my breath, "Just wasn't expecting that; you're fast".

She grins to me, showing off a pair of deadly fangs, "I try," she assures and launches herself at me.

A kick from down low, one from the side, one from above. She does this multiple times over that I'm pretty sure I have her. But when I try with a kick of my own, my leg is harshly slapped down by a palm and the other hand comes in and love taps me right on the side of the face. My head snaps back, and I stumble a bit only to come at her again. The exchanging of blows doesn't get me very far even though I'm bigger than her. She's faster. Much faster, and actually probably stronger than me too. Over all the spar is a short one, with her ending it with a kick to the side of my head that sends me reeling.

"I think we should stop there. If we go any longer I might actually hurt you," she smiles, stopping her bouncing and placing a hand on my shoulder. Why are there seven of her? "You're sure you're okay? Law should check you out just in case I hit you too hard".

I smile to her lightly and shake my head, "I'll be fine," I assure her. Though my arms where I blocked her kicks won't be. Nor will my own shins where she blocked me. I think she bruised a rib but that's okay. "Thanks for the spar," I turn to leave. I learned about her all I could through that spar. She was taught by a pirate despite being a martial artist, and she seems as free and hot blooded as the fire she apparently controls.

"Hey, why don't we hang out a bit? I'm new to the crew and you don't seem like you much like to hang out with the other guys...," she stops me from leaving.

Surprisingly enough, I find myself smirking again like I had when I had shown her that I was there during her 'warm up'. I don't know why I was feeling playful back then- I'm not even playful with Shachi or Penguin of all people- nor do I know why now. However, it's a slightly welcome feeling. I turn to face her to show her my smirk and shrug, "Sure".

Creed's POV

"Excellent," I beam to the young man. Maybe I can make a friend out of him? That'd be pretty cool, seeing as he'd be my first and only friend on the crew. It'd be nice to be able to just relax with someone when either of us have the time to. I purse my lips, "You wouldn't happen to know what time it is?" If I'm unlucky, I'll have to start on lunch before I can even take a shower...Shit...A shower. I'm all sweaty and I asked this guy to hang out. It's not that I wanna impress him, it's that I feel gross.

"Uhh...It's ten thirty," the young man looks to a clock I so smartly didn't bother to look for.

Oh good, I have time for a shower and to hang out with Lyst. "Good. Listen, I'm in dire need of a shower. Can we meet up...Say the mess hall to talk?"

The young man nods his agreement, "I should go check with Captain what medical supplies we may need to stock up on anyways. Take your time and I'll meet you there at...Say eleven fifteen?"

I beam, "Works for me," and then nod before taking my leave first. "I'll see you then, Lyst," I lay a friendly hand on his shoulder before going my own way for the time being.

Once back in my room, I gather up the very same stuff I used the night before and move on to go to the bathroom. Or, that is, I would if it weren't for the fact that my door is locked. I sigh and knock, "Law?"

"Yes Kitsune-ya?" I hear over the falling water of the shower.

"Can I use the shower after you?" I'm still a bit raw about our argument earlier, but I have Lyst to meet in an hour and forty five minutes.

I can hear the chuckle in his voice as he suggests, "I am a gentleman; we can share if you so wish".

My eyes widen and a hot blush makes its way up my face, "Damn it no! I'd rather we take turns thank you very much! When are you going to be done?"

"I'd be done by now if you wouldn't keep on interrupting me," he coyly states. "Is there something important that requires you to take a shower?"

I sigh, "I'm gonna meet with Lyst in an hour and forty five minutes to hang out with him- maybe make a friend". "Good enough answer for you?" The silence must mean yes. And soon enough I hear the shower stop and the ruffling of cloth as I lean on the wall next to the bathroom door.

However, what I don't expect is for my door to open on its own and show a towel clad Law opening the door and letting steam out. I jump to my feet with a yelp, and turn to make sure I can't let my eyes wander. I've seen men naked, but for some odd reason I refuses to look at the sexy water dripping body behind me. "Your turn, Kitsune-ya," is his simple greeting. The ass.

I bite my lip before speaking up, "Damn it Law, you're not supposed to inform me by just walking into my room with nothing but a towel! I thought you were a gentleman!"

"'Gentleman' being a loose term, Kitsune-ya," Law chuckles out. "I am a pirate, let alone a pirate captain; I can do as I please when I please".

"Okay, I fucking get it. Now would you mind leaving so I can take a shower?" I question not in the mood to start another verbal battle about getting and giving orders and what not.

"...Yes," he tells me, cruelly playful smile still easily heard, and then turns with almost silent steps to walk through the bathroom and into his own room. He locks the bathroom door behind him.

I shutter and roll my shoulders as I think about my Captain's lack of clothing, which in turn results in the blush coming back with a vengeance. I grunt as I make my way into the shower once undressed and do the same thing I had done the night before. However, this time through the warm water helps relax my muscles and gladly takes the sweat from my body. Once clean, I stay and enjoy the hot water for a bit longer and then finally get out to get dressed in my usual attire.

The shower and that little bit of nonsense with Law took a lot longer than I thought they did, leaving me to head on over to the mess hall about half an hour early. And as it turns out, Lyst had apparently decided to be on the early side as well. I greet him with a smile as I sit across from him at the table so I can get a full look at him as we talk. "How was your little meeting with Law?" I question.

Lyst sighs and rolls his eyes, "For whatever reason, he seemed more playful than usual when I met with him. And he had just gotten done a shower...," he trails off referring to something I know isn't true. But no matter. "Looks like I'll be the one to get all the things we need , since he's insistent on going with you and Jean Bart and Bepo to get the food stuffs and then watch Fire Fist Ace's execution". He lets out a sigh, "I was really hoping we'd get to do something a lot more exciting," he admits.

I can't help but smile and laugh, "What exactly do you consider 'a lot more exciting'?"

"Killing marines," his answer makes my eyes widen in surprise. I know a lot of pirates hate marines, but I haven't met one who so openly planned on killing them. "That would make my day, if we went to the execution and went to help White Beard. Think of the marine death toll. It's huge!"

I tilt my head in curiosity, "You hate them that much huh? Were they the ones to control your life while you were being experimented? Or did they experiment on you directly?"

He scoffs, the grin now gone and a rage in his mismatched eyes, "They might as well have for both of those things. They didn't experiment on me themselves; didn't have the knowledge of what their apparent goal was. Supposedly they wanted to create immortality if not a super human of sorts. They wanted a weapon that couldn't die is how I see it". He scowls. "But no, they didn't do the work themselves. Instead, they made my father do it. He once was a scientist for the marines, a very good one at that. He was good enough to have theorized a way to make humans immortal through mixing all sorts of stuff that I don't care to try and recall. He stopped, because he refused to test this theory on humans. It worked wondrously on animals; no mutations, a longer life span. Dogs lived well into their thirties in human years. Cats and horses just as long. When his bosses decided he should start human testing, he fled. And then he met my mother and had me. The marines hunted him down, and then forced him to use me as the experiment dummy". He shutters, and a hand grips the edge of the table, causing it to groan in protest. His other hand balls harshly into a fist as by now he doesn't dare look at me.

I purse my lips. This is just a story of his pathetic life up until two years ago. It's still fresh in his mind obviously. I reach forward and place a clawed hand on his fist that's on the table, "You don't have to tell me anything else if you don't want to. Hell, I wasn't expecting you to go so far as this".

He sighs, "No...I haven't told anyone but Captain more than what I told you last night...I need to tell someone". He lets out a longer sigh this time, "I can't remember all the times that they made him pour chemicals down my throat that shouldn't be. Rat poison was the main thing. That was during the day. At night, they'd beat my father and chain him to a wall as they raped my mother. Every single night. Not because he was bad, but because every single night he failed to create what they wanted. He created someone who's immune to poisons and most toxins. He created someone strong, but not a super human, and definitely not immortal. After nine years, he killed himself after killing my mother when he was on break. I was beaten fore about a week every couple of hours until the Captain came in and tore the place asunder. That was the first time I saw him truly angry; a terrifying sight really. I'm not even going to describe what he did to those men, but it was gruesome. He apparently attacked mainly because he wanted to kill my father for abusing his powers as a scientist. I asked to go with him off the island, as he was staying there so that his ship could be repaired. In the month that they stayed, I not only learned that I was rather good with mechanics, but also that I wanted so badly to repay him that I was willing to do anything. So, I made this sub". He pauses, eyes quickly flashing to my hand which covers his, and pulls his away leaving me to do the same. "Tell me about the adventures you've had," he requests. "Tell me about your parents' crew".

The whole time, I of course listen closely to each of his words, watching his face as it flashes through emotions that I didn't know a human was capable of making. A mixture of sorrow and anger, powerlessness and an urge for revenge, those are two examples of the combinations of emotions I saw. Now I know why he hates the marines so much. And he has every right to. Yes, there are marines who wouldn't even think about doing such cruelty to a child like the ones in Lyst's past did, but many of them are corrupt and cruel. Most of the stronger ones have a twisted sense of justice, which causes them to hunt all pirates when in reality they should only hunt those reported to have purposefully done something wrong such as plundered a village or killed many innocents. However, I can tell that despite his sad story, he doesn't want pity. He wants someone to understand. Or at least try to. None the less, as he requests that I tell him about the family I grew up with, I smile fondly and comply.

"My dad and mom were almost always happy. They loved to explore and nothing else, but didn't want to have to deal with the issues of legality when it came to certain things such as where a civilian can and can't travel. The South Blue for some odd reason is like that- lots of restrictions. My dad's name was Kakusare Ichigo, and had black hair that was dark enough to have a red tint to it in the light and bright green eyes like emeralds. He was tall, taller than you and Law, around six foot nine actually, and built like a monster. He wasn't over burly, but there were obviously muscles on him that were as hard as iron. He fought with this giant sword that reminded me of an over sized saw if not for the fact that it was thin like a katana. He was the captain. My mom's name was Shy, though she was anything but. She had blond hair and eyes as blue as the ocean, but cold as a winter island on the Grand Line. She was the chef of our crew of maybe...Five or six members. The Straw Hat chef actually reminds me a lot of her, since she fought only with her legs too. Something about a chef never damaging her hand". I lean back in my seat, using the back of the bolted down chair to hang my arms behind me. "My dad's first mate was who taught me to fight. His name was Vigael, and he ate the Kaze Kaze no Mi- the wind wind fruit. He was my mom's older brother, but instead of blonde hair, he had brown to go with blue eyes and a pair of glasses. He was built like someone who swam a lot, and now that I look back he was a bit on the lanky side. The doctor of the crew's name was Treason- literally that's what his name was. He was once a slave for the king of his home island. He committed his namesake, having given the enemy kingdom on the island information about their troops. It was either death or slavery. I don't know how he got away though. He was a real nice guy; on the older side with graying hair. But he was strong. He was like a grandfather to me, and we played a lot of games together. We had a gunsman on the Victory's Song- that was the name of our ship- too. He was on the extravagant side, having long and shinny black hair, a hat wit a feather in it, poofy clothing and he fought with a bunch of flint locks and a rapier. He and my dad would spar a lot. His name was Cruz. The sixth member was me when my parents decided I was old enough to help out on the ship".

"It sounds like one big family on a ship," that's not Lyst's voice. I look to my right to see three people grinning down at us. Penguin, Shachi and Syn join us at the table sitting down with the best friends on either of Lyst's sides and the oldest of the lot of us sitting next to me. It was he who spoke, "We came in here to see if you had started lunch or not," is it seriously noon? "But we find you talking away with the least social person on the whole sub of all people! We wanna hear about this family-crew of yers too, but we're also starvin'. You willin' to make us food while you tell us the story?"

I can't help but laugh to the jubilant helmsman and stand from my seat, "Yea, I'll tell you the story. What do you guys want for lunch?" Various sputterings of either they don't care or something that I can't make with us lacking the makings for them, I decide, "BLTs it is then," I laugh out and head into the kitchen. Luckily, there's a Large sliding window that I can open up to speak to them as I work. Down the frying pan comes out out comes the tomatoes, lettuce and bacon. "Anyways, as I was going to say, we had all sorts of adventures. Since my parents never really got married- they just referred to each other as husband and wife- by those who didn't know them they were thought to be single. Neither of them were bad looking either. One time, we went to an island that had a kingdom just like Treason's did. And on that island, was a princess about ten or twelve years older than me. Now, I was seven at the time, and my dad was only about twenty seven and my mom twenty five; they had me at an early age. So that made the Princess at least twenty seven herself. She was a right spoiled bitch, let me tell you that much. Summer was her name I think. Her hair was a spring green and her eyes were golden like a snake's. Anyways, one day we're walking through the town's plaza looking for something to eat and supplies to buy, when suddenly this trumpeting sound sounds all through the plaza".


	4. Chapter 4

_So this here is the second installment for Fox's Creed. Enjoy :)_

Flashback

Like I said, this was when I was about seven, but still I was pretty tall for a seven year old. By then, I'd of already eaten the Kitsune Kitsune no Mi. And during this time, I was into a phase of being in a small fox form when on islands. My parents didn't mind at all, since I was still fairly young and I had only started learning TaeKwon Do a half year ago. Just to give you an idea of what I look like, I'll describe myself to you. In any of my forms- I have five- save for two, I take to the shape of a fox. Most of my body is the medium blue you see in my hair. However, the fur closest to my legs is dark blue, and my legs are an actual black. I have nine tails of course, and for the most part they're as blue as my body. However, the closer to the ends you get, they become lighter and bleed red, the tips are white. My ears are black too, and my everything about my eyes are as red as my hair. There's a wild look to my fur, and my eyes are rimmed in black. In my smallest form, which is what I was in at this time, I'm about the size of a cat.

Anyways, we were traveling through the plaza when the trumpeting went on. The reaction to the sound was similar to how people react to World Nobles. In that they stop what they're doing and bow down. Of course we were confused as to what was going on, so we stayed standing. Well, the others did, I was situated on my dad's shoulder with a tail lightly around his neck so I wouldn't fall down.

"Daddy, what's going on?" I questioned into his ear quietly. I can talk in these fox forms, but normally try not to so no eyes are drawn to me. Even back then I didn't like people staring at me too much.

"I'm not sure, Chibi," he told me lowly, "But make sure that you're not heard talking, okay?"

"Yes Daddy," I whispered, and fell silent.

"Make way for Her Highness, Princess Summer!" A male's voice called out, and next thing I knew, there was a litter being carried through the plaza. I saw people press their foreheads harder to the ground, obviously scared for their lives. The man who called out was on a tall horse, dressed in armor from shoulders to toe. His horse was as black as his armor which held a single crescent moon on the breast plate. A cape draped from his shoulders, royal blue in color, his hair was windswept and red like blood, his eyes were an unforgiving black. He rode next to the litter on the side away from my family and I, but I could still see him rather well because of how tall dad was. "Halt!" His booming voice commanded, "Litter bearers, down!" The bearers did as told, and he dismounted from his horse with someone taking the reigns from him.

I could hear a whispering coming from the veiled litter. "There are pirates here, Stein. That tall one with the black hair...I want him. He will be my new husband". My eyes widened at that, and I couldn't help but let out a little whimper.

Dad of course realized something was wrong, "What did you hear, Chibi?" He mumbled.

"The Princess is trying to steal you from Momma, Daddy," I whimper lowly into his ear. I didn't get a reaction out of him as the man apparently named Stein walked to us.

"You. Princess Summer has chosen for you to be her new husband. Feel honored, pirate, you're being married into true royalty," Stein states.

Dad of course didn't like that at all, and easily looked down on Stein, "Sorry, I'm happily married already".

"There's no ring on your finger".

"So? I found the love of my life, I asked and she said yes. That's all that matters. Materialistic things like rings are worthless," dad replied.

It was then that the Princess decided to show herself. "Impossible!" She stood up and got down from the litter, taking a hand of help from Stein. "Saying your married but having no ring is simply a false excuse! Now. Marry me, lest you have my father's navy on your tail for the rest of your worthless life! You have heard of the Amacha kingdom, haven't you? You're in it, you pathetic sea dog!"

Mom didn't like that all, and she was obviously going to step forward and curse out Summer, but Dad stopped her with a shake of his head. "Fine. I'm honored to agree to marry you on one condition. Allow me to say goodbye to my crew," he told her firmly.

"Hmph. Very well," Summer allowed, "You have ten minutes, sea dog". And with that she got back into her litter. Dad led the crew away to somewhere more private- an alley way- but Stein followed us to the opening and stayed there as we went further down it. We couldn't get away for sure.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Ichigo?!" Mom demanded. She's where I got most of my sailor mouth. "You're my husband! Fuck marrying the princess! That knight is only one person and we're strong! We can take this whole kingdom without an issue god damn it!"

Dad sighed and ran a hand through his choppy hair, "Shy, calm down".

"Like hell I'll calm down!"

"The Amacha kingdom is small but it's got one of the stronger naval armies in the South Blue," Dad told her. "Besides, I've heard that the family still lives in a castle that is more than three times all our ages combined! Do know what that means? Hidden doors and one hell of an adventure! Before the wedding, I'll explore the whole place and map it out. And then I'll sneak my way out of there"

Mom scoffed, "Anything for an adventure, right?" She obviously wasn't happy. "What if you never get to explore before the wedding? Once you're married to her, she's never going to let you leave the island let alone the castle".

"Daddy, Momma should be able to explore it too! Why don't I just burn down everything so you can explore as you please?" A simple fix for a seemingly simple issue.

Mom didn't like that idea either apparently, "Creed, baby, no. Even though you're fire's not that hot right now," back then, it was only as hot as any normal fire, "It's still enough to spread quickly and kill lots of other families. You don't want to do that, do you?"

I hadn't realized that I would be taking lives. I mean, I knew that my fire was dangerous, but I figured that the people here would be fine. I was a child, I knew no better. "No Momma. I'm sorry," my ears fell back on my head to show my guilt.

"You're a crazy brat, Creed," uncle Vigael told me with a chuckle. He then frowned and placed a hand on Dad's free shoulder, "I have to agree with my little sister on this though. It's a bad idea. What if you go somewhere you're not and there's no forgiveness for doing so even for a Princess' husband? Creed can only protect you so much even in her largest form," at that age, I only had two forms my biggest being the size of a horse, "And you're not a fruit user so bullets are more than likely to take your life. And that wouldn't be good".

"Even if you did get away," Treason began, "You'd probably bleed out before you got to us even if we were just outside the castle grounds. And if we did get you off the island, it'd be without medical supplies. The next island is a week away and bullet wounds are wounds that easily get infected. Especially if I have to dig them out. Even more so if we end up having to cauterize the wounds".

Dad sighed, "So...What do you suggest we do? The Amacha navy is too much for us. Maybe if we had a larger ship and more members, but we don't so we're out of that option".

"You're not marrying her, that's for sure," Mom stated sternly, "I won't stand for it".

"I won't stand for Daddy doing stupid stuff either," I agreed with my Mom, making her smile at me lovingly".

"Good girl, Creed".

Cruz spoke up for the first time since we stepped onto the island, "I've got it. It's so simple that it should work". He smirked and motioned for us to come closer so that Stein had no chance to hear us. "We take the boss her as a hostage," he told us, "We're pirates, even if we're not as bad as most are. It's not seen passed our kind to go to the lowest of the low. We take the boss hostage and demand that we be able to leave without anyone following us. Creed here sets fire to Princess Bitch's litter, causing panic to occur. Then we book it out of here and jump onto Victory's Song. Vigael, you give us good wind so we can go as far away as we need. Just before we leave, though, Creed and Vigael can combine their powers and create a little fire storm and send it the navy ships' way. Burn them into the ocean. We don't get injured and no one has our names. Bam! Freedom here we come".

"Cruz you're a genius!" Shy beamed to the man, and launched herself at him to hug him.

I don't feel too good about this plan. Why? Well, "But...Momma said no fire," I remind the lot of them.

I hear my dad sigh and he pulls me off of his shoulder, holding me under my armpits so that he can look at my frame which simply dangles. Unlike the rest of my body, my tails are rather long and a bit disproportionate, so they're down to his knees in this position where as normally they should only go down to his waist. Eh, no matter. "Creed, hunny, it's going to be okay. Momma didn't want you burning down a whole village, as no one would be able to run to safety. But you're just burning a litter, so the people have everywhere to run to. Okay? You don't want Daddy to have to leave the crew, do you?"

My ears perked and then fell again at the mention of my dad leaving, "Hell no!" My small jaw bears sharp teeth.

"That's my baby!" My mom laughed out and kissed my muzzle. "Let's get this show on the road...Er...Sea!"

"Right," Cruz nodded. "I'll do the hostage holding since I'm the only one with a gun on me". That said, he unholstered one of the two flintlocks that he keeps on his hips. "Put Creed down, Boss," he told, "Creed, you get to your bigger form".

As I was put down, I shook out my pelt real quick before looking up to Cruz and nodding. I closed my eyes and sighed, concentrating. I was still quite new to shifting sizes as well. What I had to do, was picture my self as I currently was, and then imagine myself much bigger to the biggest size I could currently go. That as said before was only the size of a horse but no matter. When I opened my eyes next, I still had to look up to my dad, but not so much any more. I was about five foot eight at the shoulder.

"Come here boss," Cruz demanded, and my dad did as told. From there, he was put into a simple hold with the gun against his temple. "Put on some cruel looks people, it's show time". We did as we were told, and Cruz lead the way out. I found myself pulling my lips back to show larger fangs and my ears were back as well. I was in the back. "Hey, armor boy," Cruz growled out.

Stein the knight heard the voice calling to him, and turned to face us only for his eyes to widen and then narrow. His face became stoic and cold. "What do you think you're doing to the Prince, pirate?"

"Takin' 'im with us, bub," Cruz sneered. "We figure that now that 'e's a Prince, he's go for a pretty penny. Creed," he called out to me. "This guy looks like he needs a light".

"Don't you dare! He's my man now you bastard!" Dad glares over his shoulder at Cruz, playing his part well.

Our small crew parted for my large form, and I watched with no little amount of pride as Stein's eyes widened in fear. A low growl ripped from my throat, and spit dripped from my maul. Pointing my face down as to not burn him too bad, I opened my jaws and breathed out, calling fire to the air that escaped me. The reaction was instant. His armor heated up under my fire, and began to burn him as he wore it. He yelped and cried in pain, before beginning the job of removing his armor then and there. That left us to continue on our way. But Dad fought against Cruz's hold like any man loyal to his followers would.

He sneers at the lot of us, "You people are vile! How I could call you a crew in the past, I haven't the slightest clue!" But his 'struggling' got him no where. Not that he was trying to leave

"Move it bitches!" My Mom demanded harshly, causing those still pressing their foreheads to shuffle to the side when they saw what was going on.

"What in my Father's name is going on here?! What happened to Stein?!" Summer demanded as she managed to get out of the litter without Stein's help.

"Don't mind us young miss," Treason offered, "We're just taking Prince here for a little stroll. We'll bring him back if we don't get any money from the slavers".

Summers eyes widened, "S-Slavers?! You're selling my fiance to slavers?! You can't do that!"

"Oh but we can you filthy whore," Mom sneered out. I think she was happy to be able to speak back.

"Summer please!" Dad again shuffled in Cruz's hold again, "Don't let them take me!" He put on a scared face.

"Baby!" Tch, she didn't even know Dad's name. "Please!" She pleaded, "Let him go! I'll pay you any amount of money you want! Just please don't hurt him or sell him off to the slavers!"

Vigael leaned on his sister's shoulder coolly, a cruel smirk on his face and the light glinted off his glasses to hide his eyes, "Any amount huh?" He looked down to Mom, "What do you think?"

"Tch. This place's money isn't worth it," she chuckled out. "Creed. Show them what happens when someone tries to bribe us and fails!"

Again I growled, this time louder and directly to the Princess. How dare she try to steal my Daddy! Instead of my mouth doing the work, my long tails became covered in orange flames, and lashed out as one at the litter as well as the Princess herself. In the mean time, I heard the crew taking their leave as planned. Though Dad stayed.

"Okay Chibi," he spoke into my ear, "Let's get out of here. The rest of the crew is probably on the ship by now. Is it okay if I hitch a ride with you?"

I smiled, which seemed more like a snarl but with my ears perked instead of flattened, "Of course Daddy. On my back or shall I carry you with my tails?"

He pursed his lips, "Carry me with your tails; I'm supposed to be a hostage".

I nodded, and wrapped three of my nine tails around him securely before taking off full blast. Carrying him felt kind of weird, but no matter. As it turned out, the Crew had faith in my jumping abilities as they had already started to take off. Luckily, it wasn't that far, and with a heave of my horse sized body I managed to carry both my Dad and myself across the small gap between Victory's Song and the dock.

"Alright Chibi, Vigael," Dad stated once I released him, "Set fire to the enemy ships!"

Vigael grinned and placed a hand on my shoulder, "We got this Creed," he told me, and there was a powerful gesture of his hand that created a twister of air behind us. I took this as my cue to set the twister on fire. And with something akin to a roar, a wave of fire came from my mouth and clashed with the wind. The added power from uncle Vigael to my fire turned it from orange to blue, and it crashed with the ships, setting them aflame right away.

END FLASHBACK

"That night, every one of us celebrated for a job well done. I know that may not sound like that big of an adventure, but I still enjoyed it," I finish up my story. It's by now that I realize two things. One, that all of us had finished something and by now I'm cleaning the last plate that was used to hold sandwiches. And two, that at some point, it became about on thirty in the afternoon.

"You sound like you were cute when you were little, Creed," Shachi grins out to me.

"'Were'?" Penguin laughs out.

Syn chuckles himself, "Well of course it's in the past! She's not a gorgeous woman," he tells the man, "'Cute' just doesn't cut it for her any more!"

I blush as Syn calls me as he does, making me bite my lip lightly, "You guys are too kind," I smile out lightly. My eyes fall to Lyst, "So you liked the story?"

"I did," he smiles to me, making me beam, I'm happy that he enjoyed my simple story.

"I'm glad that you all are bonding," a cool voice speaks up over the lot of us from the doorway of the mess hall. Bepo is there behind him, protectively holding a nodachi to his shoulder. "However, we have business to attend to. Kitsune-ya, you are coming with Bepo and I to come and watch the execution. Give the list of supplies we need for food to Syn, Sachi and Penguin. Jean Bart will be staying here and keep the sub surfaced. Lyst, you will be getting what is on the list I have given you. Do not dawdle, and once you're done you are to stay on the sub. Are we clear on what has to be done?". As the boys let out an 'aye Captain', the lot of us stand and we move to head for the deck. By the time we're there, Jean Bart already has the sub surfaced and we're greeted by the sun. I wave to Lyst, and he to me, as I leave with Law and Bepo, taking Law's left side as Bepo takes his right. It takes us little to no time at all to come to the grove where the execution is being played, and we manage to find a spot at the back of the crowd. Right now we're looking at an empty gallows, but no matter. I'm silent as we wait. "You seem rather close to Lyst despite only having talked to him a few hours," Law speaks, looking my way through the corner of his eye.

I shrug in turn, "He's a nice guy," a smile is now on my lips, "He's really easy to get along with once you look passed the fact that he's a bit on the antisocial side". I look to him curiously, "What's with the sudden observation?"

"Merely making sure one of the newest crew members on my sub is getting along fine. None of them have tried to touch you I presume?"

I grin to him, "No one's come to you with a burnt hand, have they?"

He lets that relaxed smile widen a bit, clearly amused, "No".

"Then there's your answer, Captain". It seems I've forgiven him for the nonsense he pulled earlier, and he I...Or maybe it was just me who was holding the light grudge about that. My full attention goes back to the large screens before us, showing everyone watching the very man that kneels on the gallows. His hands are obviously cuffed behind his back by sea stone, and his head is lowered, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. On his right is none other than Sengoku. To his left, is Monkey D. Garp.

Sengoku waits a moment before speaking up for all to hear, "Before the life of Fire Fist Portgas Ace is erased from the world forever, I will make an announcement for pirates, civilians and marines alike to hear! Years ago, Gol D. Rogers started the Golden Age. It was once said that with his life taken, it was the end of his line of blood. However we were incorrect! The man before you bears that wretched name whether he wants to or not! While he carries his mother's maiden name of Portgas, in his blood he carries the name 'Gol'! However this is the true end of that line! And with this death, may the marines prosper and finally end the horrid age of pirates! With this death, let us start a New Age!" It looked like it was going to be like any other execution with or without White Beard there. However I'm proven wrong as an all too familiar voice sounds over the large den den mushi. I can't see him, and I've only met him once, but the determination in his voice gives him away.

"AAAAACCCCCCEEEEEEE! ACE! WE'RE HERE TO RESCUE YOU! ACCCCEEEE!" Luffy's voice can be heard from afar. My eyes widen. How the hell did he get to Marineford?! He was just on Sabondy the other day! I know it's not that far but still.

Ace's head jolts up, dark eyes searching the crowd below him for the owner of the voice, "Luffy no! Don't come here! Please! I'm ready to die! Turn back for your own good! Luffy no!"

"Didn't you hear what Sengoku said Luffy?!" Garp calls out to the boy that shares his name. I'm guessing they're grandson and grandfather. "Ace isn't your real brother! If you come here, I won't let you pass! You'll die you idiot!"

"I don't care!" Already, a war has broken out. I can't see all of it, but I can hear it. "ACE YOU'RE MY BROTHER! I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU!"

Suddenly, Law turns away from the screen, and begins to walk away as well with Bepo close at his side, "Law?" I question, staying where I am. "Captain, where are you going?"

Law doesn't stop walking though and only holds a hand out for Bepo to give him his nodachi, "We, Kitsune-ya, are going to go lend a hand to Straw Hat-ya". There's a dark tone to his voice, and his shoulders are squared, his strides long, and the grip on his sword hard enough for me to see that his knuckles are white even from where I stand. We're going to Marineford? This doesn't click until seconds later. We're going to the place of the execution! Why? "Hurry, Kitsune-ya, or you will be left behind and you can forget about being a part of my crew". What? I just started to like it there! It's then that I come along, jogging to catch up to his side only to have to speed up as he breaks out into a run. At the speed at which we go, it takes us no time at all to get to the sub. As soon as the deck's door is closed, we submerge. Law went up to the observation deck, but Bepo and I are down below.

A war. We're headed for a war of all things. Not only that, but in helping Luffy, we're gonna be trying to save the son of Gold Rogers. The last King of the Pirates. I purse my lips and decide that the best place to wait until we surface is my room. On my way there, I'm met by Lyst whom seems to be heading out of the medical bay. "What's going on Creed?" He questions, making me stop in my tracks.

I turn to face him and sigh, running a clawed hand through my hair, "We're on our way to a war; Marineford. Apparently we're going to be giving Straw Hat Luffy a hand in saving Fire Fist Ace".

His eyes widen in surprise, "Isn't White Beard already basically there to save him as well?"

"Yea, but Law wants us to be there as well for whatever reason. Maybe he's looking to up his bounty, or maybe he's looking to see how well he stands against an Admiral or a Warlord," I shrug, "But I think we shouldn't exactly ask questions". Damn he made this thing able to move. We should be there in no time I think.

Lyst is silent for a second before suggesting, "Why don't we wait by the deck stairs? I'm sure he'll want us out of here as soon as we surface". Why was he so quiet for that short amount of time? Does he know something about our Captain that I don't? Maybe I'm just over reading everything? None the less, as he passes me I turn and follow him, walking back to where I came from. And he was right, it didn't take us long at all to surface. And as soon as we do, we're on deck right after Law, Bepo and Jean Bart. There's a fierce look on his face and for a second I wonder why. "Shit! STRAW HAT!" My eyes dart in the direction Lyst is looking and my eyes widen. There he is, on the ground and downed with a gaping hole going straight through his chest.

"Doctor! He needs a doctor!" Pirates around him scream as he bleeds out.

"Ace! No!" I hear a booming voice that as it turns out came from White Beard himself. God he's massive! Okay, no time to admire him right now. Why? Because there's Ace, uncuffed and barely holding his own against Akuinu himself. In the back, Sengoku 'The Buda' is fighting the very man whose power I don't have time to admire. I watch as Ace is knocked back and badly burnt by the lava that lashes out at him. It looks like he's trying to protect Luffy despite the fact that the boy is bleeding out.

"I am a doctor!" I hear Law call out to...Holy shit that's Jimbei! What the hell is he doing here?! Last I heard he had been drug to Impel Down. "Bring him here! I will heal him!"

"Law, I'm going to go help Fire Fist," I state as I watch more lava hit the young man's barely protected body. I shake my head. No way even Fire Fist can take on a monster like the...Well... Monster like that guy.

"What?!" Syn demands, "You're not going anywhere Creed! We get Straw Hat and then we're diving to help him and Jimbei!"

"You're not going, Kitsune-ya," Law snaps at me, dark eyes cold.

"I'm going!" I snap back. "Ace is out there buying us time to get Luffy here and I can't just sit there and let him get his ass beaten! I bet you he's been wearing sea stone cuffs all this time up until now! He's no match for Sengoku right now!" I pause for a moment, "Besides! If someone doesn't at least _try_ to help Fire Fist, then all of Luffy's will have gone down the drain. Been for naught! Not only that, but Ace is Luffy's _family_!" Of anyone on this submarine as far as I know, I know best what it feels to lose your family and be unable to protect them. I don't want anyone else to ever feel the way I felt.

Law sneers and whips around to face me, his face getting into my own, "And you think you are? You're just a Super Nova, he's an Admiral. Someone like him is as powerful as a Yonko. Be smart, Kitsune-ya, and know your limits!"

"Fuck my limits and fuck you Law! You're a doctor and you're letting Ace get hurt! Jimbei isn't anywhere near Luffy still and as we speak, Luffy is dying!" I snarl out, fangs beard, "I'm going!" I don't wait for him to detest again and turn to strut away from him then stand at the edge of the sub. Fire is heat. Heat is energy. Energy makes up lightning. Focus. Focus. Fo-There! There's a harsh pulling at my gut that's so abrupt that it's almost painful. However, I do manage to get to where I'm going. The down side is that it feels like my insides are on fire, and not in the good way. It's like I've roasted them.

Where I land is at Ace's side; I'm rather lucky to land where I aimed in my rush to get where I was. "Who are you?!" He demands as as one we dodge another blast of lava from the flower print shirted man.

"Don't worry about that right now! I'm here to help!" I tell him before pushing him to the side and dodging the other way. However, we end up regrouping afterwards.

"You're going to help me?! How?" He demands.

"Hey, you're the one who just got out of sea stone cuffs for the first time in what I bet has been days! Be grateful damn- Dodge!" We move again, barely missing lava. "Damn it! Now shut up so I can concentrate!" I'm not going to be able to even get close to touching this guy in this form. He's too big and powerful. Which means that I'll just have to get bigger. I stay where I am and close my eyes in concentration. Where is it...Where is that form? The downside to switching forms mid battle is that they're buried deep down inside me. In my soul if you will. Just like I did when I was seven, I imagine myself as I am now, nothing but a clawed and fang human girl. And then I imagine myself becoming my largest form. My second most powerful as well. If I were changing to take him down, I'd go all out, but I'm just buying time and defending. This form is best. There's a burst of white fire from my form which meets the heavens and burns the ground below me deeply. In no time at all, in my place is a nine tailed fox, me, with blue black and red fur. My legs and ears are black while most of my body is blue along with my tails that bleed into red and then the tips are white. All red eyes rimmed in black look down at the tiny people below me, my height being that of two full grown male giants. In other words, I'm massive. My eyes latch onto the Admiral known as Akainu and I open up my jaws and let out something that's like a mix of a screech of sorts and a roar.

"What the hell?!" I hear Ace demand from below and look down to him before one of my tails grabs a hold of him out of no where.

"Calm down," I demand as he tries to burn his way through my tail, my voice booming from me but my jaws not moving, "That won't work. My name is Kakusare 'Kyubbi no Kitsune' Creed. I'm here with my captain, Trafalgar Law". I swipe and kick at those who dare to try and attack me at Akainu's side. My eyes widen as lava collides with my foot making me howl in pain. "That fucking hurts!" I yowl, before crashing a paw to where the Admiral stands. I miss despite the speed at which my paw moves got get him. I only end up with marines impaled on my claws. It's not surprising to me at all that I missed. After all, Law is right; I'm just a Super Nova. The best I can do, which I've known all along, is that I can hold the man back long enough to get Luffy onto the sub and then somehow retreat.

"How is this helping?!" Ace demands as I manage to scoop up Luffy's downed form, and Jimbei's as well. A massive wave of lava comes at me from one side and from the other side comes a wave of ice. Great, another Admiral. My heart beats wildly as I look from side to side as the waves continue to come at me. I look to those wrapped in my tails and then turn in the direction of the sub. There's no way I can take on one- let alone two- Admirals. Hell to that! I'll die in no time at all! And I'm not quite ready to die.

"This is how you idiot!" I call out to my Captain, "Captain! Catch!" And with a hard swing of my tails in rapid succession, they're flung from my current position. What I see is Jean Bart catching Jimbei, Lyst catching Luffy and rushing him inside, and Ace being steadied by Syn himself. I smile. They made it. G- "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH" I let out a yowl as the waves of lava and ice clash with either of my sides. Gotta admit, that was pretty stupid of me, taking my eyes off of my opponents. Another wail of pain comes from me as another wave of lava washes over me, burning away my fur with no remorse. The concentration needed to hold this form, no matter how little, is broken, and next thing I know, I'm falling from high in the sky and crashing to the ground. The earth is unforgiving as the lava and ice were. Everything aches. My insides, my outsides, even the tips of my hairs.

"That was a good try, mutt," I hear a voice speak up to me, and blearily look to see Admiral Akuinu looking down at me with a scowl on his face and hatred in his dark eyes. "If you were a marine, I'd be happy to have you on our side. However, it's time for you to die". He lifts up a hand which soon turns into lava. His other hand forces open my fractured jaw, "Goodbye". What I feel next however is not lava pouring down my throat and burning me from the inside out. Instead, it's the feeling of rapid movement. What I see next isn't Akainu, but instead a bare chested Law. What?

"Good timing Captain," I barely hear Syn tell the man whom by now has me on a gurney and is rapidly rolling me towards the medical bay. A whimper is the only questioning sound I can manage. I don't see him, but I know there's a scowl on Syn's face, "You idiot. Why'd you have to go and play hero? Captain just barely managed to replace you with his hoodie before you were fed lava". I don't get a chance to answer him, as finally I'm given the bliss of sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: When Total Strangers Are No Longer Strangers**

I don't know how long it's been since I was last awake, however I do know that my body's no longer in pain. I have always been a fast healer. What I see above me is a white ceiling, and to my left and right, white walls. I take a whiff of the air around me, and find the scent familiar. My ears focus, and there's a sound of 'beep...beep...beep...beep' over and over again, droning. This bed isn't all too comfortable now that I come more and more into consciousness. Why the hell is this bed so rock hard? I sigh and look around as much as I can again, only for me to see an IV bag with a tube that leads into my arm. The medical bay. I'm in the medical bay. I try to sit up, however it's not pain that stops me. Like I said, I don't feel any, which is good. What I do feel though, is a strap on my chest and two straps around each of my arms at my wrists and elbows respectively. There's straps around my ankles and knees as well.

"Hello?" I manage out a whisper, my throat dry as paper. I lick sandy lips and try to swallow spit, but get nothing out of either. "Hellooooo? Anyone around?"

Silence...And then foot steps. Who I see is a sight for sore eyes. However, there's not a smile on his face. "You're awake," Lyst tells me bluntly, earning a nod from me. He sighs and sets something down on a side table not far from the bed. From there, his hands get to work on the straps. "You're an idiot, you know that? I thought you were smart, but it looks like you're stupid". As he finishes with the straps, he helps my stiff body sit up and hands me a glass of water which I drink greedily.

"...How am I an idiot and stupid?" I question. Those are practically the same thing.

He looks at me incredulously, "First, you went against Captain's orders. You don't want to know how dangerous he's been to be around this whole time you've been asleep. Secondly, you didn't even think to warn us that when you're knocked out, you become a savage beast and try to kill everyone whether you like it or not?"

"...What?" Savage beast?

He scoffs. "We got you into the medical bay and I was put on the duty of taking care of you; Captain was taking care of Straw Hat. Jimbei and Fire Fist were pretty much fine. Fire Fist was pretty badly burnt in multiple spots but it wasn't anything he couldn't wait to be treated for. We laid you down on a normal bed, but after that when I tried to check your pulse, you freaked out".

"How?"

"Well, first thing you did was grab me by the throat and try to choke the air out of me. And then your eyes opened up," he starts off.

FLASHBACK Lyst's POV

The medical bay was pandemonium, with Fire Fist demanding that he stay to watch Law work on Luffy, only to be manhandled out of the room by Syn. Jimbe was much easier to get rid of, understanding that when things like this happen, the doctors need their space. Luckily, Penguin and Sachi were there to help Law and I- the latter with me. They don't have a lot of medical experience, but they had enough to be helpful to a degree.

"Lyst, get her pulse and get her stabilized," Law demanded as he worked on Straw Hat, eyes two storms of seriousness.

"Yes Captain," I noded and set to work. Her body was beaten and battered, covered in scrapes and bruises. Broken ribs by the looks of things, and a fractured jaw are two things that I saw right away. Her clothing was basically nothing, and as such with a quick movement of scissors, her shirt and pants, undies and bra were gone. I didn't have time to admire her nice form despite its battered state. After that, with glove covered hands I moved to the side and reached for her neck with the meaning to take her pulse. However, something stopped me. While one hand had my wrist, the other had my throat in a death grip. I started, and looked down at Creed herself. At that moment, her black rimmed- not by eye liner though it looked like it, but instead just naturally done on her water line and upper lid; they've always been like that since I met her- eyes opened. Instead of that interesting ember that would remind anyone of fire, her eyes were a crimson like no other, the iris lined in black and the pupils slitted like a cat's. There was a snarl on her face, I realized. The hold on my throat tightens as my eyes locked with hers, and I barely manage to gulp. "...Shachi...Shachi!" I called, having a rather hard time in doing so. The girl could tear out my throat if she so wished.

Shachi had apparently been focused on something else, as when his attention was given to me, a gasp escaped him, "Lyst!" He rushed to the other side of the bed and reached for her hands. "Creed, calm down! We're trying to help you!" She didn't respond.

"Just get her off of me!" I choke out as a snarl ripped from her throat. Is her hair more wild than usual? Her skin was hot to the touch, and not because of a fever I didn't think. I could feel my own skin burning. It wasn't until she realized that Shachi already had her legs pinned down that she began to thrash, releasing me and lunging for him. However I managed to catch one of her hands and rapidly strap that down. Shachi did the same with her other arm and hand before finally he passed over the strap that promptly went over her chest. She let out something that sounded like the sound she made after her transformation on Marineford, but it wasn't as loud and it had a hint of human scream to it. It was after that, that I managed to get some tranquilizer into her, and soon enough she was knocked out. I sighed. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Shachi pants, "But that was really scary. We should probably get her fixed up".

I nodded in agreement and got to work. Her pulse had become normal, and the beastial features on her person slowly disappeared. That is, her fangs and claws got shorter, and after I checked her pupils for dilation I realized that they were round again. I was right about her ribs being broken, three of them, and same with her jaw. One side of her was frost bitten, and needed immediate heat treatment, whereas the other side was burnt horribly and needed cool treatment. Luckily, it looked like we had gotten to her fast enough and that there would be a swift recovery to be made. It also looked like the attacks were halved due to their canceling effect on each other. In other words, Creed was a lucky fox woman. The downside was that she had a lot of internal damage, and I couldn't tell how she managed to do that to herself. I guessed it was due to that lightning trick she did earlier. Due to this, she needed a blood transfusion. Not an emergency one, but she would need one fairly soon.

"Captain," I call over to Law as he rushed to care for Luffy. He was the one who needed the emergency transfusion, and it was by mere luck that Jimbe was of use in having the same blood type and fishmen and humans having enough DNA in common to make the transfusion acceptable by Straw Hat's body. While Law was doing that, I had managed to quickly test Creed's blood, showing that her blood type was..."Shit. AB negative," I muttered and shook my head. She would have an incredibly rare type. I knew that not even the Captain even had such a blood type...However he is O negative which would have to do. I on the other hand am B positive. I didn't know about the others unfortunately. Damn it, she was really gonna have to wait. Fortunately, she was stable for the time being.

"What is it, Lyst?" Law finally managed to register that I'd called for his attention.

I sighed, "Captain, she's a rare one. She's got AB negative". I heard him curse. "What do you want to do Captain? She can't wait forever". Obviously.

"Ask Fire Fist what his blood type is. If he doesn't know, test it," he told me, "Tell me the results".

I nodded and left the medical bay and looked around. No one would be in either the Captain's nor Creed's rooms. They'd best be in the mess hall. I took the staircase closest to the medical bay and bolted down them as fast as my feet could take me. "Fire Fist," I waste no time, "What's your blood type?" Fire Fist had stood to his feet, probably in hopes to hear good things about Straw Hat. However he had a dumbfounded look on his face. "Come on Fire Fist! Think!"

He blinked for a moment and then shook his head, "I don't know. I thought Jimbe was a match for Luffy?"

"This isn't about Straw Hat. Creed needs a blood transfusion as well. Come with me so I can see if your can be useful to me," I grabbed his arm and drug him out of the hall, leaving the rest of those not doing something- Syn was navigating- to do what they were doing in the first place. It didn't take me long to drag him up the stairs and into the medical bay. Nor did it take me long to find a vein in his arm and take a tube with some of it in it. It's after that I told him to stand in a corner and out of the way as I went to test the blood. "O...Positive." Damn it all. "You can go back to the mess hall, Fire Fist," I told him.

"What? Why?"

"You're not quite the right blood type. And blood doesn't work like other things do where 'not quite' is still enough. If I give Creed your blood, then her body will reject it and attack itself. That'd be bad," I told him.

He stood his ground through, and looked in the direction of Creed's form "Isn't there something I can do? She saved my life, and she brought Luffy to your Captain". He really wanted to help; I could see it in his eyes.

I sighed, "There's nothing you can do but hope that they both get out of here with their lives". I left him to show himself out of the room, and called out to my Captain again, "Captain. It's no good. He's O, but positive instead of negative".

"Son of a bitch!" Law growled, but then sighed. "How much longer can she wait?"

"Not long, sir," I told him, "She's waited long enough. Shachi, how's she doing?"

The brown haired man shook his head as he checked her vitals, "She doesn't look good Lyst, Captain".

Law stopped what he was doing, "Fine. Lyst, we'll switch patients. If you get stuck on what to do for the surgery, I'll walk you through it. Shachi, set us up for a blood transfusion. Lyst, come take my place". We did as we were told.

FLASHBACK END Creed's POV

"After we got his blood into you, all that's left was to let you heal and treat the burns and frost bite," Lyst finishes with a sigh.

"...I really am an idiot. Sorry," I sigh, "But I don't regret it".

"Sure you don't. Anyways, it's been about two to three weeks; Straw Hat woke up a couple hours ago. We managed to gain access to Amazon Lily thanks to his ties with Boa Hancock, whatever they are. Feel free to get dressed and greet the sun and everyone else," he pauses, "Oh, and you just might have an admirer or two. Just saying".

Admirer? Who...? I shake my head before clearing my throat and nodding, "I'll get dressed and come on out. Thanks Lyst". He waves me out with a sigh and leaves the room, leaving me to be all on my own. Slowly I sit up from the leaning position the bed had me in, and I look myself over. It looks like I won't be wearing any scars, which is pretty lucky considering just who hit me. But, Lyst did treat me and Law gave me his blood...Law...God he's gotta be pissed at me. Not looking forward to that at all.

I look to the side and find a bundle of my usual clothing, folded up nice and neat. I pick up the clothing, realizing I'm naked with a blush. Did he have to cut everything off? Still, I pick up the shirt first only to find that paper lays under it. I set the shirt aside and read, "Kitsune-ya," so it's from Law, "Congratulations on surviving the ordeal you put yourself in. I took the courtesy to gather up a new outfit for you, as well as some undergarments. Once you are done dressing, join the rest of us on Amazon Lily. Law...PS, You have quite the nice taste in undergarments". I grab the pillow on the bed and scream into it. Seriously? He of all people had to even get me some under wear?! That's fucking embarrassing! I sigh and rid myself of the pillow before getting dressed with shaky hands. That ass, going into my under wear drawer. I sigh again, and look down. At least he managed to find my extra waraji. I slip them on and head out of the medical bay, more than ready to see the light. But first, I'm going into my room to see if he messed anything up.

Upon entering, I find another note on my bed, this is also from Law, "Kitsune-ya, I assure you, I did not go through anything of yours with a curious intent; I was merely getting you clothing. Now please join us on the island. Law". I look the paper looking for any sort of other snide comment, but find none which makes me grateful. I head into the bathroom after grabbing my tooth brush and decide that if I can't take a shower, then I might as well as brush my teeth. However as I look into the mirror above my sink, I see my eyes widen. My hair's much longer than it used to be. I know that may not seem like a big surprise, but I'm just taking notice now...I take a look at my claws and raise a brow. They've grown a decent amount too. Luckily my fangs haven't. My claws are probably longer because of a lack of use is all. It's what makes the most sense.

With clean teeth and brushed out wild hair, I exit the sub to find myself shielding my eyes from the bright sun. The island of women, Amazon Lily ruled over by Boa Hancock, is beautiful from what I can see. I let out a sigh that apparently was louder than I expected it to be, and find my crew mates looking my way. Shachi and Penguin are leaning against a tree, boiler suits unzipped and the torso part pulled off to show simple muscle shirts of black and white respectively. Lyst is the closest to the sub that I've just stepped off of. Syn is currently eating from a large pile of fruit and meat that seems to have been prepared for the lot of us. Law is also under a tree, but he's a good bit from Shachi and Penguin, and he's using Bepo as something to lean on instead of the tree which ultimately just acts as shade. I see his eyes land on me, and although the casual smile stays his eyes take on a dark look.

"No! Luffy wait! Luffy she just woke up-! Don't-!" A voice tries, but ultimately I'm slammed into from the side and sent sprawling.

I grunt as I skid a bit on my back, and open my ember eyes to see a bright eyed and beaming straw hatless young man. It takes me a second to register what just happened, and what is happening. Straddling my waist is one Monkey D. Luffy, a brand new X-shaped scar across his chest. His hands are on either side of my head, and he's awfully close. "Uh...Can I help you?" I raise a brow. Next thing I know, my back is popping in multiple places as rubber arms wrap around me multiple times in the ultimate bear hug.

"THANK YOUUUUU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THAN YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH!" He screams into my ear, making me think that I've gone deaf in said ear.

"...For what?" I wheeze out, arms pinned to my sides and air being squeezed out of me.

"You saved Ace!" He finally releases me, and just lets his hands rest on my shoulders. When did I start sitting up? Now he's crouching over my legs. "You saved Ace from that lava guy! And you saved me. But still you saved Ace!" He hugs me again, but this time without crushing my spine. Still it was pretty strong.

I smile, my brain finally registering what the hell the boy is talking about. It's Luffy, just without his hat on; something I've never seen having only met him once more before this. Still, I pat his back, "I wasn't about to let that guy kill you or your brother. It wasn't right; they were just executing him for being Rogers' son with being a pirate on the side. And you. You were just trying to save him when that ass blasted a hole through you".

"Aright Luffy, get off her why don't you?" A kind voice speaks up from behind the seventeen year old boy. I look up and see none other than Fire Fist Portgas D. Ace himself. "I wanna say 'thank you' too you know".

"Okay Ace! I'm gonna see if I can't find something to eat," the boy releases me almost too fast for me to keep myself from falling back and prances off like a newborn colt.

I see a hand in my face, and look up to its smiling owner ember eyes meeting black. I take the offered hand and find myself rather close to the shirtless Fire Fist Ace, and just manage to swallow my blush; it's not like he's not hot or anything. He releases my hand and steps back before bowing at a perfect ninety degree angle, "Thank you for saving Luffy's life".

The thanks that's so different from Luffy's makes me blink in slight shock for a second. They may not be blood related, but they might as well be. Still, the way they thank someone is different enough to make me to still look at them as real brothers and still be shocked. "Uhh...You're welcome?"

"Seriously," he stands to his full height and comes in close again, "Thank you". I can see the genuine happiness in those dark as night depths. I don't realize just how close we are to one another.

The sight of this genuine happiness makes me smile to him. "You're welcome," I tell him again, this time more sure of my words.

"If there's anything I can do to repay you. Please, don't be afraid to tell me," he tells me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "But for now...Join Luffy and I for something to eat? It's been so long; I'm sure you're starved". That's my stomach's cue to demand food loudly, making me blush lightly and him chuckle.

I smile a bit wider, "I could go for something to fill my stomach".

"Excellent". He leads me to the seemingly never ending pile of food, and we sit down, Luffy on my left and Ace on my right. On Ace's other side is Syn. It's right after we sit that we begin to eat. Not at the pace Luffy does, but still with gusto and still a large amount. I haven't eaten in at least three weeks, I'm allowed to stuff my face.

Well, I thought so until my Captain casts a shadow over me and clears his thought. "Excuse me, Fire Fist-ya, Straw Hat-ya," he states, "Might I borrow my chef for a moment?"

I look over my shoulder with a full mouth to see that serious look in his eyes and swallow down harshly the food. I stand, "I'll be back guys," I tell the curious brothers, who that once they have my assurance turn back to their food. Law turns and leads the way back into the sub, and goes so far as to lead the way into his room. I bite my lip as he motions for me to go in first and he enters after me and locks the door...Why'd he lock the door. I turn around to face him, my mouth open to ask the question that's on my mind. However I never get a chance as suddenly I'm taken by the throat by a tanned hand and slammed into the door faster than I can realize just what's going on. My hands go to his chest, only for them to be grabbed by his other large hand and pinned above my head. His body pins the rest of mine down, a knee in between my legs for stability. "What are you doing?!" I question with wide eyes.

"You disobeyed my orders," Law stated. "I told you not to go, and you went," gray storms meet ember fires.

"What was I supposed to do? Let Ace get killed? Let Luffy die?" I snap back. I'd rather die myself then make someone feel the way I felt when I lost my family.

"Jimbe-ya had it under control. Fire Fist-ya would have made it either way," Law assures stubbornly.

"Bull shit and you know it," I snarl. I see his eyes flash and his grip on my neck tightens, making my own eyes flash. I can feel a growl fighting its way to the front of my throat.

"It shouldn't matter; I'm your Captain. My orders are law".

"I didn't know you were god".

"When it comes to my orders, I am," he returns.

"Then it looks like I'm a fallen angel, because like hell I'm gonna listen to every demand you make. If I do that, next thing I know I'll be doing things without you ordering for them to be done!"

Law smirks, "That's perfectly fine by me".

"In your dreams, Captain," I spit out the title.

"I assure you, my dreams are more than of just you doing every single thing I command," Law smirks to me. His knee shifts between my legs, raising ever so slightly, and his form presses harder to my own. "Would you like me to show you?" These words are whispered.

My brows furrow and I squirm under his hold, "Like hell I would, asshole". The anger's still in those orbs of his, but now there's something more. I can't place it, and I don't like it at all.

"What a shame. My dreams are quite vivid," he presses.

"I don't care how vivid your dreams are. Now if you would be so kind as to let me go, I'd like to go back to eating with Ace and Luffy," I allow some of the fire that constantly dances under my skin to warm the skin to the point where holding me is uncomfortable.

"A shame," Law sighs out, and releases me as my skin becomes warm and backs off. "I'd like to show you my dreams".

"Yea," I scoff, "I bet you would". I pause and sigh, "So what's my punishment for being insubordinate?" There's to be one.

"Hmm?" Law questions with a tilt of his head. And now the anger's gone. Did he so easily push away his frustration at me? Why?

"I disobeyed your orders. What's my punishment?" I question with a tilt of my head.

Law is silent for a moment before coolly smiling, "There is none...This time. However I will...Punish you should you disobey again. Think of this as a warning. Now go and fill your gut; I'm sure you're hungry".

I stand there and stare at him for a moment as he turns away from me and scans his bookshelf for something. Or maybe he's just waiting for me to leave? I shake my head before leaving the room after unlocking the door and head back to the outside world. I'm greeted by Luffy whom had seen me walk out, and I make my way back to the brothers.

"Sorry about that guys," I grin out, taking a big bite out of a fruit the size of my head.

"What was that all about?" Ace questions after swallowing his mouthful of whatever he just had.

I shrug and follow his example, "That was just my Captain sternly talking to me about not disobeying his orders ever again and that if I do there will be consequences. That's all".

Luffy speaks up from my other side, "That's mean! You were just helping some friends out!"

"Well...He doesn't see it that way. To be honest, I only met you once before now. And until now, Ace was a complete stranger," I admit with a shrug.

Ace chokes a bit on his food, and I end up pounding on his back until he's swallowed his food again, "You went against your Captain's orders for a guy you met only once before, and a complete stranger!? Why?"

I shrug, "There are multiple reasons. The main one being that you two are brothers through and through; that much is obvious. I lost my family years ago, I know the pain of loss well. I'd rather die than find that someone else is feeling the same way as I have when I could have prevented it. Not only that but... It just didn't feel right to me that they were going to kill you for being the son of someone who sparked the interests and dreams of thousands around the world. Besides, I guess you could say I owe Luffy. If he hadn't crashed into the Auction House on Sabondy, I would have been sold off to some asshole".

"That asshole being the one and only Eustass Kid, might she add," a jovial and older voice states with a chuckle.

I turn as the voice is familiar, and only find myself staring at Silvers Raleigh. "Old Man?! How the hell did you get here?!...Why are you wall wet?"

"I swam here," he chuckles to me. That's just...Damn he's more badass than ever now! Swimming not only through an ocean, but also through the Calm Belt of all things. Damn. "It's good to see that you and Luffy are alright. You're both quite lucky on incredible levels".

"Foxes normally have pretty good luck," I grin to him. "Hungry?" I hold up a fruit, and toss it to him when he holds out a hand to catch it and bit into it. "What are you doing other than coming to see us, Old Man?"

Raleigh chuckles and wipes his mouth free of fruit juice, "I also came here to offer Luffy something that he probably shouldn't turn down," his eyes fall to the boy, "I'm offering to train him in haki". Lucky ass!

"Woah! Really?!" Luffy swallows his food whole and beams at the man with stars in his eyes.

"Really".

"Take the offer Luffy," Ace tells his little brother with a grin, "Haki can make you even stronger. It can make you able to hit logia users like me, as well as mythical zoan users like Creed here," he's smart. I didn't even have to tell him.

The straw hat boy tilts his head, "Really?"

"Really Luffy," I laugh out and shake my head. "Just take the offer". He's lucky. I can't use haki for whatever reason.

"...Okay!" He grins out.

"Then we'd best go now," Raleigh states.

Luffy stands and sighs, "Okay". His attention goes to Ace, "What are you going to do now, Ace?" That's a good question.

Fire Fist Ace stands himself and stretches, "Well, the way I see it I have two options. Ask to join Trafalgar Law's crew...Or ask to join your own".

"Why not go back to the White Beard pirates?" I tilt my head as I too join them in standing.

Ace sighs and purses his lips, his eyes and face turning to the horizon, "...I can't go back. I know that the others don't think this way, but I can't help but see it as my fault for Pops dying...It's also too painful. There's so much that went on, on that ship, so many memories that involve him".

I can't say I understand Ace's guilt, but I can say that I get the gist of it. "You should go with Luffy; Law says we're gonna be staying on this ocean for a good while longer".

"Alright! When we meet up with the crew again they'll be so happy!" Luffy beams out, throwing his arms to the sky. "A new crew member!"

Ace laughs and rolls his shoulders in the form of a shrug, "Looks like it".

"We should really get going then. Earlier I managed to get Hancock to agree to giving us a lift to another island; we won't be training here," Raleigh presses. He gets a nod from Luffy, and the two walk off after Ace tells them he'll meet up with them in a moment.

I raise a brow as he takes my shoulder, and leads me to stand behind a tree. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that Law's done doing whatever he was going in the sub but pay it no mind, "So uhh...Why are we behind a tree?"

Ace's eyes flash to where I know where Law stands even though the fire user is looking 'through' the tree. "So your captain didn't see this," he tells me with a light smile. This makes me raise a brow nice and high. What is 'this'? "I know we've just met on not so violent terms for the first day today, and that we haven't spent a whole lot of time getting to know one another but...I feel like I can trust you through thick and thin. So I'll say this: if you need me for whatever reason, don't be afraid to give me a call," he places a baby den den mushi in my hand, "If I'm not fighting, I'll pick up every single time. And if you need me to fight by your side, I'll do everything that I can to get to you".

To say that I'm flattered is an understatement, and a such I stare down at the baby den den mushi with widened eyes. And then I look up to him, "Are you sure? For all you know I could just be acting nice"

"You saved both my brother's life and my own. And Jimbe's. Only a truly kind person saves three strangers and goes against her Captain's orders just to do that, let alone risks her life to do it". He's got a point there. "Promise me...You won't forget about me and that we'll meet again".

I tilt my head in thought for a moment before grinning to him, showing off two currently harmless fangs, "It's a promise," I offer my free hand to him to shake. Instead what I get is a hug that holds me close to his form; I instinctively wrap my arms around his torso as his arms rest around my waist. There's a gentle hand on my chin which is tilted up so that I can look at him. What I'm met with is a gentle feeling lingering on my forehead. It takes me a moment to realize that...It's a kiss that lingers there, and then another one is gently placed on my left cheek before he turns and walks away with a wave. I place a hand to my cheek with wide eyes and a blush creeping up my face. He just...He just...Kissed me...Damn. I stay there for a few moments longer before pocketing the den den mushi and coming out from behind the tree. I'm met by a curious Lyst.

"What was that all about?" Lyst questions with a pair of raised brows.

"...Nothing," I assure him with a smile.

"Why are you blushing?" He presses.

My eyes widen. "I'm still blushing?" Heat rests all over my person.

"No, you weren't, but now you are. Which means that something happened between you two," Lyst sighs out. "What was it?"

"Nothing at all!" I insist. "Nothing".

Law is heard above the two of us. "Whatever nothingness that didn't happen can be kept to yourself, Kitsune-ya," why's he unhappy again? "Let's go gentlemen! We can't overstay our welcome here; we're leaving".

"Aye Captain!" Penguin and Shachi state and stand. As they pass me, they send me a glance and snicker, making me glower. Did they see...?


	6. Chapter 6

It's been two weeks since we left Amazon Lily, leaving us with a week's worth of food until we'll begin to struggle to find something to eat and then starve. That is, if we don't find an island soon. Apparently we'll be staying here for two more years. Why that is, I don't know. To become stronger? To still let the weak be weeded out? Whatever the case, I hope it's not boring. Over the passed time since I woke up after Marineford, Lyst and I have been hanging out a lot. Often we'd just sit and talk in the mess hall, or we'd spar and try to better one another in the dojang. I'd often win our little play spats, but I can tell that he's getting stronger with each time we spar. And with each time we hang out, the more I realize that although he's not that social, it's because he doesn't know how to be. He's actually a lot like a kid when bored, which I find rather funny. But he's still a young man most of the time.

I've also been spending a lot of time with Law. Most of it has been because he's told me to stay to take his tray back to the kitchen after breakfast. But there are times when I ask to come into his room and we just...Talk. It's not much since the time we spend with one another isn't as often as Lyst and I hang out, but it's often enough for me to realize that while we get along a good number of times, most of the time we end up bantering about something. I think it's because eventually I end up giving him an order and since he doesn't like that- no matter how small it is- he decides to show me. Whether it be through physical imitation or verbal warfare, he always manages to win. When it comes to the physical part, I think it's the eyes that get to me. Whenever he gets pissed and I look into his eyes, it's like seeing two storms at sea and they're both headed straight for me. And when I realize that, I know that my ship has no chance. That amount of water and wind can easily snuff out fire. But there are also times when I do get to win our verbal banters. Though those times are rare indeed. Still, it's fun hanging out with him. And sometimes he even lets me read his books; though I've gotta read them in his room. When that happens, I get the chair and he takes to his bed. It's a...friend-acquaintanceship that we have going on I think. More than acquaintances but not quite friends.

"Hey...Hey! Are you gonna answer my question or not?"

"And what question was that?" I roll my eyes as I flip the burgers that I've been preparing for lunch.

Lyst rolls his own eyes, "You wanna play twenty questions? We're almost to an island so we're gonna dock and then go on land tomorrow morning. We're gonna stay at an inn too".

"I thought Law preferred to stay on the sub?"

"Yea, but he also figured we could do with some fresh air and some earth under our feet. Penguin and Shachi are especially getting antsy; they're like working dogs that haven't been out to work in days," well ain't that an odd comparison. But I can see it. "Anyways, do you want to play or not?" He leans against the door of the kitchen; today I have the window closed. "We're all already in the mess hall. Even the Captain is gonna play".

I sigh. I retract my earlier statement. They're all like a bunch of kids when bored. "Sure. Let me just finish making these okay?" I thought that was going to buy me some more time, but as it turns out the patties are already done and all that's left is to bring out the condiments as well as said meat and some bread. Screw plates. Seeing as taking two trips is for losers, I manage to carry all that to the hall table and spread things out for grabs.

"Come sit next to me today, Creed," Law states, motioning to the open spot to his right where Bepo normally sits. Today, he's to Law's left though. I raise a brow but don't fight it and settle down, Lyst is to my own right with Syn across from him. The only one who isn't here is Jean Bart; he's not that much for being social over all.

"You're seriously going to play this?" I raise a brow to my Captain.

"Play what?"

"Twenty questions," I answer.

"Yea, Lyst lied," Shachi grins out. "It's really spin the bottle truth or dare".

I glare at the young man, not happy to hear this, but the look on his face tells me that this is news to him too.

"While he was off getting you to come play, we changed the game," Penguin laughs out.

Law chuckles himself, "Twenty questions is such a boring game". And the newly decided one isn't? Ugh. At least we're not playing strip poker; I suck at that game. I always fold when I don't need to or bluff and get caught for it. He leans forward and lays down the ketchup bottle, "And as Captain, I'll go first". With a simple flick of his finger to the bottle's top, it's sent spinning. And spinning...And spinning. Oh there we go, now it's slowing down. Aaaaand ah ha! Not on me! Instead, it lands on Lyst. "Lyst-ya," Law as usual wears that calm and cool smile on his face. He leans forward and rests his chin on twined fingers. "Truth or dare?"

Lyst seems to use the moment of chewing his food as time to choose which one he's more willing to take. "Dare," he smirks to our Captain.

"Very well...We'll start it out easy since you're so young and innocent," this gets snickers from the troublesome duo, "I dare you to switch spots with me for the rest of the game unless dared to move to another spot".

"That's it?" The assistant doctor raises his brows before shrugging and standing as Law does. And simple as that, they've switched spots. "We'll go clockwise. Bepo doesn't want to play so Syn you go ahead".

"What do you mean you don't want to play Bepo?" Shachi playfully huffs out.

"Yea! You could dare us to do something!" Penguin sides with his best friend.

The tender hearted polar bear hangs his head, and lets his ears fall, "Sorry".

I roll my eyes at the terrible twosome, "Don't mind them Bepo," I offer the bear a smile, "If you don't want to play, then that's fine. You can just watch if that's what you want to do". I'm happy to see that his ears are lifted, showing me that he's happy with such an opportunity. "Spin the ketchup Syn".

"Yes ma'am," the older man playfully teases before sending the bottle for another spin. When it does finally stop, it lands on none other than Penguin himself. "Alrighty Penguin. Truth or dare?"

"Hmmm, I think I'll play it safe this time through," the man next to the spinner coyly grins out.

Shachi isn't too happy about that though, "Pussy," he fake coughs into his hand.

"I'm not a pussy," Penguin rolls his eyes, "What's the point of everyone calling dare in a game of truth or dare? Then it'd just be dare or dare, idiot".

Syn waves the two off, "Alright alright kiddies. Calm down. Penguin, when was the last time you got laid and couldn't remember your partner's name after the fun was had?" Thanks Syn. I really need to know about this. I glare his way and he playfully grins.

Penguin isn't phased by this answer at all, "I'd have to say...Never actually," he grins, "It's Shachi who sucks with names...Or rather, sucks in general".

"Oi!"

"Like a cup on an octopus tentacle," Penguin continues to tease, earning him a harsh glare as he spins the bottle. Who does it land on? The Captain himself. "Alright Captain," he smiles out, "Truth or dare?"

Law rests his chin in a single hand as he leans forward to rest an elbow on the table, "Dare, Penguin-ya".

"See? The Captain's not afraid to play it risky," Shachi teases with a grin.

"Shut it! Captain, I dare you to...Go into the pantry and get out one of the barrels of rum we've got and bring out enough tankards out for everyone save Bepo".

"Very well," Law stands and walks towards the kitchen, "Creed, where are the tankards?"

"I'm not part of this dare," I call back to him, "You're on your own Captain~". There's a bright grin on my face and I can hear the snickering of the boys, making me send them a thumbs up.

It's about ten minutes until Law walks back into the mess hall, tankards in one hand and hooked on his fingers and the barrel on his shoulder as he carries it like the manly man he apparently is. He sets the tankards and then the barrel down, and then simply breaks the top of the barrel open. There's a silent challenge to everyone now: we've gotta drink the barrel dry. He fills the tankards one by one, giving one to each of the men and one to himself. However, mine is filled last. As I hold a hand out to take it, he pulls back at the last second, "Ah ah ah," he teases with a cool smile, "Say please, Kitsune-ya".

I blanch. Seriously? "Seriously?"

"Yes. Say please," he tells me, "Or no rum for you".

Okay, now that's just not fair. I'm not much of a rum person. I burn through it too fast for me to really get drunk; sake's my alcohol. However I do want alcohol; I don't want to be left out. So I end up huffing, "That's just cruel".

"He's not the Surgeon of Death for nothin' Creed," Syn laughs out before taking a drink of his share. "Ahh, that's some good rum!~"

"You're cruel too, Syn," I'm pouting now.

Shachi of course sees this, "Aww, she went from huffing to pouting!"

"She's adorable!" Penguin agrees, and they clink their tankards before taking gulps of their own. "Good stuff is right Syn!"

"Come on guys, let the woman have her drink," at least Lyst is standing up for me. "I mean, she's missing out after all!" Or not. I send him a glare which is met with a playful smirk.

I sigh and ember eyes meet gray ones before finally I give in. I want alcohol damn it, "Please?" I question.

"I'm sorry?" Law continues to hold my rum as a hostage, "I'm afraid I didn't hear that".

"I said 'please, oh great and powerful Trafalgar Law?'," I add on.

"I suppose I can grace you with a drink," he tells me, handing the tankard over and finally sitting down himself. "Shachi, spin the bottle".

Shachi salutes our Captain and does as told, "You got it, boss". And as luck would had it, it points to me. "And we have a winner! Creed, my dear, truth or dare?"

I take a nice long drink of the rum and stop to give the liquid a stare. Damn, this is good stuff. Maybe I'll actually end up at least a bit tipsy...If I don't take any breaks that is. None the less, I give the sunglasses wearing man a confident smirk, "Dare me baby".

A dastardly grin spreads across the man's face, and my smirk falls. Shit, "I dare you to go to your room and wear your most revealing sleeping outfit".

What? I look to Law with wide eyes, clearly asking if I have to actually do that, "You asked for a dare, Kitsune-ya. You don't want the penalty, do you?"

"...What's the penalty?" I question.

Syn decides to answer, "You become minus one article of clothing". Oh that's cold.

I sigh and stand before leaving the room and head for my own room. This is going to be hard to choose from; all of my night gowns are on the more revealing side. However, there is one that I had gotten just for show. It seems that it'll be broken in tonight. However, it's definitely not coming off. I'll burn anyone who tries to touch me. None the less, like most of my stuff, it's black. However, unlike most of my nightgowns, it's showy and perfect for teasing. It mainly shows off part of my belly and my legs. The top is a black thin strapped corset that stops at my belly button. Although it looks solid, it's actually all lace, however the lace is very thick around my boobs. The skirt is see through, and is flowing and stays open in the front. Even when I don't walk, it's made so that it's open and showing off my front rather well. The underwear I wear is honestly just a bunch of strings and I'm not the biggest fan of it. However, upon trying my normal underwear with it, I can't help but think 'no'. I bite my lip as I look myself over and adjust a thing or two. However When I'm done I take off my wajari and socks and suck it up. I do bring my clothing with me. He didn't say I had to stay in it. Just change into it. So when my turn to dare someone is over, I'm changing back. No ands, ifs, or buts.

"I'm telling you, it's not appropriate!" I hear Lyst tell someone, probably Shachi, from down the hall.

"Oh come on Lyston! It's only in fun and games," I hear Penguin defend his friend. "Don't tell me you don't want to see how good she looks". Such a statement is met with silence. Why? I don't know.

Law speaks up next, "While I applaud her willingness to change, I'll be sending her back to change back once we see what she looks like. She's in a sub full of men, men in her age group at that, and is the only female here. Lyst-ya is correct; it's inappropriate".

"Aww, what a buzz kill, Captain," Syn sighs out. "But...I get where you're coming from".

Wolf whistles are what I expect when I walk back into the hall, finished with my change and therefore my dare. However as I walk in, I'm not met with wolf whistles. Nor am I met with cat calls. Instead I'm met with blushes and wide eyes. Penguin missed his mouth as when I came in he was about to drink some rum. Shachi doesn't even finish drinking as his jaw is open and rum is spilling out. What a waste for the both of them. Syn has a hot blush on his face. As expected, Bepo isn't interested. I think he's still hoping one day we'll come along a girl bear for him to fall in love with. However, two sets of eyes bore into me the hardest. I don't bother to look their way however.

"Happy?" I shuffle a bit under their stares, "This is the most revealing one I've got. I'm going back to my normal clothing now". As I walk passed them, I feel five sets of eyes on me and I glare at the lot of them over my shoulder, "Stop watching me walk, dipshits". A wall of dark blue fire bursts up behind me, touching the ceiling and obscuring any vision from my walking person. It stays until I'm in the pantry where I can fully change in privacy. I'm quick to change out of the clothing, happy to put on my normal undies as the ones I was wearing felt odd. I'm also happy to feel my normal black clothing cover my entire person. I walk back out, and there are still eyes on me, "Stop staring, dumb fucks," I mutter. However a certain mismatched pair, and a certain gray pair, don't listen. I sit down and spin the bottle, finding it to land on Law. "Law, truth or dare?" I take a gulp of my rum, finishing off the tankard. I can already feel the feeling of being buzzed for a few moments before it goes away. Ahh, still not strong enough. No matter; I still fill my tankard for a second go.

Law purses his lips, "Dare, Kitsune-ya," he tells me after a sip of his drink.

I pause. What could I dare him to do...? "I dare you to," hmmmm. I know, revenge, "To...Use Room to scramble Shachi's body as you see fit".

"E-Eh?!" The man blanches.

"This is what you get for making me dress like I was," I sneer.

"But you looked sexy!" He tells me and I roll my eyes.

"Syn-ya, may I borrow a sai?" With a s sai in hand, Law smirks my way before looking to Shachi, "Room". A small blue dome appears around the sunglasses wearing man. There's a few flicks of Law's hand as he directs the sai, "Shambles". Shachi's limbs and head and torso are separated from each other. With a few gestures of our Captain, Shachi finds himself with an arm where his head goes, his head where one of his arms would go, the top of his torso connected to his feet, and the last arm where his torso would normally meet his waist. He looks my way as Room falls, "Good enough?"

I grin to him, "Perfect," I raise my glass to him with a chuckle, and we clank tankards. The game continues through the night up until the barrel is empty and the rum is gone. Out of the five of us whom have been drinking, I am the most sober. Scratch that, I am sober. Next to me, having never left his seat, I can see that Law is only a bit on the tipsy side. Which is pretty impressive seeing as he was dared to drink a quarter of the barrel's contents in one go by Lyst; that was two hours ago. I watch for a moment as his eyes follow the antics of the terrible twosome. Said duo is currently trying to do a one person handstand, while the other person is standing on the hand stander's feet. My eyes then roam over to Lyst, whom has been promptly passed out for the last twenty minutes, hand on the handle of his tankard. I was able to witness just why no one challenges Syn to a drinking contest; he's a monster. Said monster is cheering the terrible twosome on, and even going so far as to tell Penguin, the jumper, when to launch himself. I sigh and stand, slamming down my empty tankard, "Well! I'm off to bed; I don't need to witness your guys' death," I tease towards Shachi and Penguin.

"Aww really? Come on Creed! Stay up with us a little longer!" Penguin pleads, helping his friend stand back up and onto two feet.

Syn chuckles, "You know, she's right. Your hangovers are gonna be horrible".

Shachi wabbles in his spot, hanging onto Penguin for balance. When he realizes that's not working for him, he merely slumps over with an arm around the other's shoulders and manages to stand like that. "Oh...w'll b' 'ine," he slurs carelessly. "You...You're the 'ne 'o's gonna have a bad 'angover".

"Stop leanin' on me man! I'm not like that," Penguin growls out, but does nothing to take Shachi off his shoulder.

"Go to bed, gentlemen," Law states as he stands as fluidly as his tipsy body will allow him. Slightly hazed over eyes look for something until they land on Bepo, whom had taken to sleeping in a corner when things got loud and annoying to him. "Bepo".

"Yes Captain!" The polar bear jumps to his back paws, standing tall and at attention.

"Bepo, help Penguin-ya and Shachi-ya get to their proper beds," Law tells his first mate.

"What about you Captain?" The bear tilts his head, worried and curious.

I smile to the bear, "Law will be fine, Bepo, I sleep in the room next to his, so I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to him. Okay?" The bear stares at me for a moment before nodding and walking over to the duo that I'm pretty sure are talking about one of their sexual endeavors that they've had in the past. Ew. Bepo wastes no time in hooking a claw in each of their suits in the back and promptly dragging them this way to their room that they share with the others.

Syn sighs and stretches for a short moment before yawning himself, "Looks that leaves me with taking care of sleeping beauty, huh?" His eyes fall to the currently soft breathing but drooling Lyst. "Heh, still can't hold his alcohol after two years of being a pirate. What a shame," he chuckles out lightly.

"Take good care of him" I laugh out lightly, "I'm gonna take care of these tankards and the barrel, so I won't be going to bed just yet".

"You're okay to do that?" Syn raises a brow as his glazed over eyes land on me. Ahh, so he is drunk. It's just that nothing really changes about him.

"I'm perfectly sober," is my assurance, "Rum isn't strong enough to really do anything for me unless I'm constantly drinking. A long enough pause will bring me right back to my senses fast enough".

"Whatever you say girlie," he shoulders the boy, "Goodnight". And with that, he and the carried Lyst leave the room and head down the hallway, his footsteps fading as he goes.

I sigh before turning my attention to the tankards on the table, and set to collecting them swiftly and easily. Penguin's and Shachi's were on the floor, so I had to actually bend down to get them, but other than that it was no problem. I'm surprised though when I turn to go into the kitchen, I see none other than Law simply still sitting where he has been the whole night. I stop and put the tankards in my hands down, and lean over him to see if he's okay. He may be a bit more than tipsy if he of all people is letting himself fall into deep thought. "Law?" I wave a hand in front of his face, only for his larger one to lash out and catch it in a firm grip. I start for a second, and blink at the sudden movement. "You okay?"

"Perfectly fine, Kitsune-ya," he tells me, glazed over eyes focusing on my face. He stands, but doesn't let go of my hand as he does so. Though I'd very much like him to.

I pull to have my hand freed, however it's in vein as his grip tightens as soon as I ready to pull. I purse my lips, "Can I have my hand back? I need it for washing the tankards".

"There's something that has been on my mind for a while now," Law begins, pulling my hand close to him, and therefore pulling me closer. I stumble at the sudden pull. I can never get over how deceptively strong his form is. He wears baggy clothing that doesn't show off hard muscle that I know is there, and he doesn't walk like he's all too powerful. However, I'm sure he's much stronger than I. The simple pull is enough for me to tell that he is. "Something from back on Amazon Lily," he continues. Shit. Did he see or hear what happened between Ace and I? I'm not too embarrassed about it, that's not it. I'm more worried about the possibility that he thinks I'll leave the crew for someone I've only met once.

"And what would that be?"

Law again is silent, dark gray orbs meeting my bright ember ones and daring to snuff out the light in them simply by looking at them for too long. I'm forced to wait another two or three minutes before questioning straight forward, "What is your relationship with Fire Fist Ace? Was that really the first time you met him, on that island?"

It's as I thought. He saw. I don't know how. Or maybe Penguin and Shachi told him, seeing as they definitely saw what went down between Ace and I. "Yes, that's the first time I met him," I answer him completely honest, "My relationship with him is at best a friendship. Nothing more".

"Then why is it, that you let him kiss you?" Law's eyes narrow dangerously.

My own eyes narrow and a growl rumbles in my chest, low and clear, "What does it matter to you? It was just a kiss on the forehead". I manage to jerk my hand from his hold and turn away from him, crossing my arms with a huff.

"It matters because you are mine," Law snaps lowly, hands on my shoulders spinning me around. A hand touches where the long since fully healed tattoo rests. "This mark on your leg fully shows just who you belong to".

"I'm not some property you can own!" I snap, backing up and bearing deadly fangs at him.

"On the contrary. You're my subordinate. My crew mate. My person to order around. You are mine. You just don't want to admit it," he comes closer again, making me back up once more. "There's nothing you can do about it. You're a part of my crew". He pauses, "So, why is it, that you let him kiss you? On the forehead or not, it was unnecessary".

"I don't understand why you're making such a big deal out of it," I snap, throwing my hands in the air. "I'm your subordinate, but I'm not your fucking property". I won't stand for this. We were having a good ol' time and then when everyone's gone and it's just the two of us he has to ruin it. I'll take care of the tankards later. I'm going to bed. That said, I make my way to leave the room. "Good night, Captain," I spit out the title and march my way to the room's door.

"You're not going anywhere, Creed; we're not done; come back," Law commands sternly. Oh, of course he would resort to ordering me around as though I were some dog! I can understand giving orders when the time calls for it- say when fighting another pirate crew or in a fight in general- but now is not the time.

"Oh. We're done here, Law," I snap out, "I refuse to be treated like some dog of all things. I have my own free will; I'm not some puppet. Nor am I going to bend to your every whim". I was just about to leave the room when the becoming familiar sensation of being moved against my will is felt and I find myself sitting on the mess hall table.

I'm promptly cornered from getting down by Law's body and hands which rest on either side of my thighs. His face is in mine again, his eyes no longer glazed over and calm but instead very much alert and very much two raging storms. "That's a second time you've disobeyed a direct order," he darkly tells me. "I left you off with a warning last time. But I also told you that I'd have to punish you if you were insubordinate again. And there you went, refusing to listen to my command". His face comes closer to mine, dangerously close. I want to bite at him, "Why is it that you fight so hard when it comes to Fire Fist Ace? The first time, it was while saving his live. This time, it's because I'm confronting you about a kiss he gave you".

"I don't understand why you had to confront me in the first place," I state lowly.

"Because I want to make sure that you're not thinking about leaving the crew in favor of him," Law states, "And in doing that, you'd be leaving in favor of a rival of mine: Straw Hat," he explains. "Now...How to punish you?" His dark orbs bore into me. Before I know it, there's a hand firmly around my neck, just like last time in his room. "Should I cut you up? Maybe I should see just how your body ticks? Perhaps I'll make your heart mine, and crush it in my hand and watch you writhe in pain...Yes, that would be a good idea. Take your heart and cause you pain to the point where you scream my name for me to stop. I wonder how long you'd last?" He pushes his way to in between my legs which are numb. He can do that? He can take out my heart and squeeze it...? I don't fight as the hold on my neck becomes more firm and he pushes me back to lay on my back. This causes the tankards to topple over and fall this way and that. However that doesn't matter right now. I can't take my eyes off of those stormy depths, and his orbs won't leave mine.

"What are you going to do?" I demand, forcing myself to still be brave and defiant. "Are you going to take out my heart and crush it? Beat me? Yell at me until there's nothing left to yell about? Make your choice. And make it worth it, because I assure you...I won't break so easily". I'm ready for pain. I'm ready for whatever he can dish out. This I'm sure of.

Law by now is leaning over me from between my legs, his taller person allowing him to not have to climb over me in order to keep his face in mine. I still hold back the urge to try and bite at him. He's got my throat; with a simple squeeze he could kill me before I could even lift up a hand. For whatever reason, I can't bring myself to burn him. I've thought about it more than once by now, however my brain instantly turns down the option. I watch as he glares into my eyes for a moment more before the unthinkable happens. He gets up, and again does nothing! He releases me just like he did the time before, and does absolutely fucking nothing. "Go to bed, Kitsune-ya".

"...That's it...?" I raise a brow as I sit up again and find myself meeting completely calm gray orbs. "No hitting? No taking out my hear? Nothing?" I freeze as he places a large hand where he knows all too well my heart to be. Against my will it speeds up and an odd sensation comes over me. Not fear. The touch is far too gentle to be fear. It's something more like...Yearning? Why?

"If you want, I can steal your heart," he coolly smiles down at me, the touch still gentle as his fingers glide over the fabric of my shirt, going over my heart from side to side, and outlining it my circling it lightly. "But only if you want me to".

What? If I want him to? Why would I want him to steal my heart? My heart is mine and mine alone. I take his words as a challenge, and my eyes narrow while I ignore the odd feeling of yearning that lingers. "I'd like to see you try," I return his silent challenge.

His smile widens ever so slightly, "I accept your challenge full heartedly," he tells me. "I'll steal your heart, Kitsune-ya, but not tonight. It's time for the both of us to sleep". The hand that had been running over the area of my heart now lays across one of my cheek and he places his forehead against mine. Cool breath washes over my face, "However, I look forward to winning this little challenge of yours".

"Good," my eyes roll, and I place a hand on his firm chest and push him away, "I look forward to your failure". I watch as he chuckles and backs off fully before leaving the room, leaving me to be on my own and take care of the tankards as I was gonna in the first place. "Idiot," I mumble to myself with a sigh.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Fox's Trap**

I laugh for about the fifth time today as for about the twentieth time since this morning Lyst lashes out at someone. I'm glad that someone isn't me, because he'd end up burned. But still, I watch as Shachi uses Penguin as a shield, said man too slow to block the not so harmless blow to his gut. It seems that when dealing with a hang over, Lyst is as violent as it gets.

The town we walk in is a rather nice place, having the name of Sakura Island due to the fact that that's the only type of tree that graces this constantly spring time island. It is a beautiful place, with simple yet modernly made buildings. It seems that their mode of transportation is by horse and carriage, and their streets are just grassless pathways. For the most part, we're walking along what looks to be the shopping and trading area, where as the residential area may be a bit further way from the docks. There's all sorts of shops here. Clothing, child care, one just for all sorts of alcohols, food, you name it, they seem to have a shop for it. I take in a deep breath as fresh wind passes us by, letting sakura petals dance in the wind without a care in the world. The people around us seem just as peace loving as any other island that doesn't get invaded a lot is. Their clothing is diverse and it looks to be made mostly of wool for the most part- or a wool mixture of sorts. Either way, most of their clothing is simple but practical by the looks of it. Though not a single long sleeved shirt is in sight. Same go for pants; nothing long.

At the current moment, we're looking for a place to stay just as it was decided by our Captain. We'll be staying here until we decide that it's time to go; it's nice to have an eternal pose to Fishman Island, that's for sure. If we didn't, we'd either have to find one, or re-explore the Grand Line all over again. "Law, don't you think we should just split up and look for a place to stay?" I question the man I walk behind, Lyst at my side.

"No," Law answers simply, "Someone," Shachi and Penguin, "Will get distracted and lost, and not know where to go once the day is over. We will find an inn and then do as we please". Well fine then, be that way.

Luckily, it doesn't take us long to find a place to stay after that, though I do find that the further into the market area we go, and the more people we see, the more eyes I feel on my back. I ignore them for the time being, however. The place we find is simple, being called 'Saiai-tsu' for whatever reason, and being painted white on the outside. The inside is painted a light calming blue, the floor a light wooded white color. Seeing as this inn seems to double as a bar- or maybe it's the other way around, there's tables all over the place of a dark wooded color, and an actual bar with stools for people sit at are there as well. There's a few people in this place, gathered at tables playing various card games, grabbing a bite to eat, or just seeing old friends. Still, for me it's just like outside. Eyes linger on my form. It would look like they're just staring at the crew in general- it doesn't look like these guys often get pirates- but I have a feeling that that's not how it is.

The barkeep is a tall man, maybe an inch or three taller than Law himself, and is burly. I'm guessing with those muscles on his arms and what looks like various burn scars on his person, he was a black smith, or is still one as it is. He's got the bluest eyes I've ever seen, and platinum blonde hair that frames a face that's maybe in his late twenties early thirties. Either way, he's not all too bad looking. His clothing is that of a green short sleeved shirt, and by the looks of things black shorts. I don't know about what he wears on his feet. "Welcome," his voice is deep and smooth and not at all unpleasant, "What can I do ya for? Food? Drink? A place to stay?"

"A place to stay would be rather pleasant," Law smiles to the man as he normally would to anyone. "How many rooms do you have available?"

The man sighs in thought before pursing his lips, "I have three rooms, each with two beds, and one room with a single. How many do you need?"

"All of those," is the answer, "How much for a few days' stay?"

"I'd say about 250 beli," the man states, "Which includes three meals should you want them".

That's actually a steal, it looks like. I tilt my head as Law takes a small bag from his pocket and places it on the bar, "This should do," he states.

The man takes the bag and bounces it in his hand for a moment or two before meeting Law's eyes and nodding, "If you'll follow me then, Mr. Pirate, I'll show you and your crew to your rooms. My name is Seigyo by the way. If you need me for anything, I'm normally working in the bar".

The rooms he leads us to are simple but of a decent size with white walls and carpeted gray floors. There's a window and a small bathroom to each room which is nice. He must make decent money if he can afford to have all this. Once we're showed each of the rooms, he dismisses himself with a nod and a wave, his eyes meeting mine and lingering as he passes me by. The look in his eyes was one of awe. Something I don't see a reason for at all.

Lyst's grumbling catches my attention, bringing me out of my thoughts and minor observations, "I don't see why I just share a room with her. I'm basically her best friend". What's he going on?

Penguin and Shachi hang off of one another's shoulders, "What's wrong with how we've set it up? She does't seem too unhappy about it!~"

"What don't I seem too unhappy about?" I raise a brow, "Sorry, my mind has been on other things".

Syn chuckles and shakes a head in my direction playfully, "We're trying to figure out where you'll sleep. Jean Bart here needs two beds to sustain him at the very least and that leaves you without a place to stay since Captain was gonna take the single. He suggested you simply share the single with him, but Lyst doesn't like that idea for whatever reason".

Penguin grins at the young man as he speaks up, "I think he likes you, Creed~. Why else would he be fighting so hard to keep you to himself?"

My eyes land on the young man whom is two years younger than me, and I raise a brow nice and high in question. He glares my way, though there's no malice in it as there is towards the men, "What? I just don't trust the Captain is all". He doesn't give a reason why though. "But why don't we let Creed choose for herself?"

I sigh, "I know, why don't I just take to one of my fox forms and sleep like that? I'm as small as a horse in my smallest form after all".

"I...Don't think that's gonna cut it," Syn turns down, "I'm sure you're plenty light at that size, but this floor is already supporting a giant...," he has a point. Damn.

"Then I'll just share a bed with Lyst and a room with whoever has the other bed in said room," I shrug out, "No big deal".

Syn smirks at the others, nodding and shuffling a bit closer to me, "See? I don't see a problem with it, and if we're sharing a room with Syn then everything will be fine".

"I over rule your choice Kitsune-ya," Law speaks up, that ever infernal mocking smile on his handsome face, "You'll be bunking with me until we leave the island. Understood?"

"Like hell it's understood," I snap, annoyed. There he goes again, ordering me for no reason. I hate it when he does that. "I'm sharing a bed with Lyst and that's final. I don't care if it ends up getting me punished or whatever you'll do in retaliation to my insubordination. I'm sleeping where I wanna sleep".

Law's smile flickers into a frown for a fraction of a second, "Are you asking to be punished, Kitsune-ya?"

I scoff his way, "If that's what it takes to not share a room with you, then yes".

"...Very well. I'll make a deal with you instead," he tells me, "You may sleep with Lyst-ya. However, until we leave you will be staying by my side the entire portion of the day. Do we have a deal?"

"What kind of deal is that?"

"One that works fully to my favor," he tells me.

I scoff. His favor my ass, "Fine. We have a deal," I take the hand he's offered to seal the deal and shake it, "Happy?"

"Estatic. Bepo, may I please have Kikoku?" He holds out a hand, and his nodachi is placed into said hand. Huh, I didn't know it had a name. 'Cry of the Demon' interesting. "Now that our abode is established until we leave, the rest of you are free to explore as you wish. However, do not cause trouble unless it comes to you and makes the first move. Understood? Kitsune-ya, as per our deal, you will remain with me".

"I think I'll hang around you guys as well," Lyst speaks up to Law as we walk our way down the stairs, "She's my friend after all; I don't want her to have to be unhappy the whole time she's here".

As we exit the building, Law stops just as we step onto the street, "I don't think that's needed, Lyst-ya," he tells the young man. "I'm sure I can keep her perfectly happy while we're here". His eyes fall to me, "Right, Kitsune-ya?"

I sigh and look up to the younger of the two six foot three and three quarter inch men, "He's not gonna let you come even if I say that you should". I roll my eyes at my own words, "Why don't you go hang out with Syn? You know how useless he is directionally when not on the sub".

Lyst's eyes widen, "You...You're serious?" I nod with another sigh. He purses his lips and sends a light glare our Captain's way, obviously not happy with this at all, "Aright. I'll see you tonight then". He surprises me with a tight hug that brings me flush to his form, but he's also quick to let go and jog off in the direction Syn recently went.

"Well," Law smiles down to me, Kikoku propped on his shoulder comfortably, "That went well, didn't it? It doesn't seem he's happy with me taking away his love interest".

Love interest? What? I scoff and begin to walk with him quick to follow and take to my side, "Love interest? Really? He's not in love with me," I tell him, "It's just that I'm the first one he's connected with fully and he doesn't wanna let me go. That's it. Nothing more than that".

"I wouldn't be so sure," Law smirks down at me, "He seems much more fond of you than simple friendship".

"And what do you care?" I throw back casually, thinking of something that makes me grin, "You're not jealous of him are you?"

There is a long silence as we continue to casually stroll, and for a while I think I've gotten him for the first time in a while. However, he comes back with something that literally makes me blanch and makes my heart flutter oddly, "Yes".

As said seconds ago, I blanch and my heart begins to beat in a way that I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to. I feel like stopping in surprise, but I manage to keep my limbs moving, "What? Why?"

Law pauses for another long bout, but this one is shorter than the other, "Because, you seem like you bring the best out in people. The fun I see you two having is something I find myself wanting as well". This time I do stop in surprise, and I blink dumbly. Did he just admit to wanting to be more like the young man he is in terms of fun? That's...I've never heard of something like that. I know that he's not a super strict person that keeps everyone from having fun. But...He's more like a person who doesn't completely know how. I hypothesize that in studying his medical stuff, he got so engrossed with that that he forgot what having fun without shedding blood or causing mayhem was like. Don't get me wrong, both things are awesome. But during down times, it's best to not yearn and be unable to have blood shedding fun thus causing harm to one's self. That's how I see it. And apparently, that's how he wants to see it. "Kitsune-ya?" He questions as he stops, realizing I've done so, and turns to look at me, "Are you okay?"

It's my turn to pause in thought. I purse my lips before I give him a smile, "You want to learn to have the same kind of fun me and Lyst do, right?" I get a slight pause and then a nod. He's unsure. "Alright. I'll help you. First step is to stop calling me 'Kitsune'. My name's Creed, and I'm a part of your crew now; there's no need. I'd understand it if I were on another crew or a stranger, but I'm not. It's been about a month since I joined your crew". I pause, "We'll take baby steps, since I don't think you've had the kind of fun Lyst and I have in...Ever. You're what, twenty two?"

"Twenty four," he corrects.

"Twenty four. At least seventeen years of not having the fun you're trying to get...Yea baby steps definitely. It's like stepping into a new culture; don't wanna give you culture shock". I explain and begin walking. He doesn't really say anything else as we continue to walk aimlessly. Eventually the main road leads to nothing but the end of the town, us having walked through the market area and then the residential area as well. What we come upon is a simple flat field with green grass and the road turning into something that's just tracks of carriages as opposed to grassless and packed down dirt. I grin and stop. "Okay Law, lesson number one in having fun; even the most simple of things can be seen as fun if you don't analyze it".

Law stops perfectly at my side and raises a single curious brow, "Anything?"

"Anything. Ever play tag?" I question, thinking that maybe we can start with children's games. However as he nods his head, I sigh. Damn. I can already tell that he's not interested in a game he's never played before. "Fine," I circle him in thought. Within seconds I've got the perfect idea. I smile and stop in front of him. I approach him slowly, letting my hips sway as they please, and place my hands on his sweat shirt covered form. His eyes watch me closely, honestly curious even as I press up close to him and come to my tippy toes to meet his eyes better. "How about," a hand raises to rest over his neck casually, and the other one slides down to hook onto his pants as to pull his hips closer to mine...Got it! "Keep away!" I push away from him, hooking a leg around one of his own and push him back all in one movement. I'm happy to see that he was honestly surprised as I prance fully out of his reach and he lands shamelessly on his butt. I stand there as he looks up at me from under his hat's brim. "What's the matter Law? Surprised that I actually managed to do that? I'm not just some random girl pirate you know. I'm a Super Nova too".

"No," Law states as he stands to brush himself off, "That's not what I was surprised about. What I was surprised about was the fact that you had tried, and succeeded, at using the fact that you are female to get me to let my guard down. I've never had such an occurrence happen before".

I blanch, "Seriously? You've never been tricked by a woman the way I did before?"

"Correct," he nods out. "Now...This is called 'keep away' right?". He smiles coolly, "It won't last long".

I hold Kikoku the was he had been a few moments ago. It's almost as tall as me but no matter, I manage to hold it steady and strong. Still, the damn thing is heavy as hell, and I can't help but wonder how the fuck he carries it so casually as he does. "Don't be so full of yourself, Law. No using our powers; this is gonna be all physical work," I crouch low, looking up at him daringly and my body at the ready for when he decides to make his move. And so he does, starting out with a faint already and lunging at me as though he were going straight for it. However, I can see in the way he shifts his weight onto his right food that he'll be looking to come at me from my right and his left. In seeing this, I manage to time myself correctly in moving just out of his range for his hands. He continues to come at me, and again I dodge. Dodge, lunge, lunge, dodge. This dance continues for a good while, and I still have Kikoku.

"You're rather good at dodging," Law smirks out, gray eyes bright as I laugh and dodge around him again.

"You're not too bad either. Could be a bit more nimble, but it's hard for someone your size to be fast and strong," I smile, jumping back and spinning on the ball of my foot as I do so.

"Someone of my size?"

I nod and duck, rolling Kikoku off of my shoulders and spinning it in my hand as I do so. Its landing point is my shoulders again, but this time my left hand has it as opposed to my right. "Someone as tall if not taller than you has to work hard to keep up with those smaller than them. I'm tall for a woman, but I'm no where near as tall. Still, a bigger body is usually heavier, therefore making it harder for those with a tall frame struggle at being fast. Especially men seeing as on top of that, they have muscle mass to carry. All in all...Your flexibility is where you fail".

"Where I fail, huh?" Law's voice comes from behind and I jolt in surprise. When did he get there?! Thinking fast, I lift up a foot up and behind me just enough to plant it on his chest. This causes me to lean forward and almost touch the ground with my free right hand, and I do just that as I push him away and end up rolling over my shoulder. However, that push wasn't enough, and as such he's on my tail again and lunging for the blade. I back out of his reach and around his hand and arm, only for my eyes to widen.

Why are my eyes widening, you may ask? "Look out!" I struggle to stop my current momentum, only to lunge forward for the first time since the beginning of this little game. My body slams into Law's, causing us to go sprawling into the grass.

My Captain grunts as he sits up, pushing me off his torso as he does so, and I flop with a light thud. "And what, Kitsune-ya, was that for?"

"For calling me 'Kitsune' again," I answer with a scoff, "Call me 'Creed' damn it". Still, that's not the real reason why, obviously. The real reason is staring at me, tawny eyes bright and curious as anyone else's would be. I beam and sit up myself, forgetting about Kikoku, before getting up completely. I'm careful to approach the small animal, footsteps light and breathing gentle. The little thing doesn't move yet, and I'm happy to see this. After I'm at least three feet in front of them, I slowly kneel and hold out a hand for it to sniff; behind me, Law is silent. "Hey," I speak just as gently as my movements have been, "What are you doing here little one? Where's your family?" The fox tilts its head ever so slightly, showing me that it can somewhat understand my words if nothing else. But of course it doesn't answer me; foxes can't talk. I'm careful to not smile too widely and show off fangs, as that may scare it away. However as the fox comes to me and gives my hand a sniff, I can't help but fail in hiding my fangs. It looks up to me, eyes latching onto my face as it sees the fangs, but manages to see that I'm of no harm to it. It sniffs my hand again before letting out a little trill and a lick of my hand. I take this opportunity to lift my other hand carefully and pet it. "You're adorable," I coo as the fox lets out another trill and a pleased whine at the attention. I look over my shoulder to my Captain, "Look Law! I got her to say 'hi' to me!"

I don't know what he's been doing this whole time while I've been coaxing the vixen to greet me, but as I look over my shoulder he raises a brow. "You tackled me for a fox?"

At this my brows furrow and I lightly glare his way, "Of course I did. She was just coming across the field when you decided to blunder your way towards me without a second thought".

He's silent, his eyes falling onto the fox that I'm currently petting and then onto something else. My eyes follow his line of sight, and my eyes widen as three more red furred foxes make their way from the near by trees. There's two that are full grown, only a bit bigger than the one I'm petting me, and then there's a little kit trouncing around the duo as they go. I watch as they come closer to me carefully, ears slightly down and eyes watchful. This new trio, as opposed to the girlie I'm petting now, is much more welcome to greet me once I've smiled at them and greeted them myself. It was like my voice calmed them down or something. Next thing I know, I'm literally prouncing through the field with the four of them. Not running. Prouncing. Like some child or something of the stort. However, all fun must come to an end. Thanks a lot, Law. "Kitsu-...Creed-ya, we need to get going back to the in. I'm hungry".

"Then go on your own!" I insist as I willingly flip down and let the kit play in my long hair.

Law sighs, and I can practically feel narrowed eyes on me. "You know I hate being ordered," of course he would focus on that. I fall still as he walks forward and wastes no time at all, my frame falling still as swiftly he scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder, an arm around my waist so I don't fall. The foxes though object, running in front of him and barking out demands that I don't understand. "Creed-ya, please tell your friends that it's time for you to leave".

I pout for a moment, still feeling on the childish side of things, and twist my body around just enough to see the little family. "Sorry guys...Captain's orders". Their barking stops, and soon enough their ears fall while they themselves sit or lay disappointedly "I'll try to come back tomorrow!" I vow to them once Law's passed them and I don't have to turn to look at them. I wave with a smile.

Coming back into town turns out to be interesting rather quickly, seeing as we're greeted by a whole crowd. I can't really see what they look like facially, but I can only guess as Law stops where he is, "Can we help you?"

"You can start off by putting Mesu Kitsune-shin down on her own two feet, barbarian," a random man states. Eh?

"I'm sorry?" I'm pretty sure Law is raising a brow right about how. Or maybe he's just looking at them mockingly as he would anyone else.

"He said put our Lady down," a woman growls out with a stomp of her foot, "How dare you touch her, let alone be near her without her consent?" Again. Eh?

"I'm afraid I don't like to follow orders, madam. I suggest you stop spewing them in my direction and leave me alone so that I can get back to my current shelter,"...He's doing pretty good for someone who normally is much colder towards me when I give him an order.

However, I don't want this to turn into a slaughtering. Not while there are still foxes near by that could smell the blood and become too scared to come back and play with me. I wiggle and kick until Law finally puts me down on his own accord, and then turn to face the crowd of various people. Men and women alike are gathered in front of us, angry looks on their faces and stances defiant. "Okay...What the hell is going on here?"

A man of average height and silver colored hair steps forward, blue eyes cast downwards and away from my ember orbs, "Forgive us, Mesu Kitsune-shin, we didn't know it was you who came to our island after so many years of waiting. If we had, our welcome would have been much more grand".

"I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about, sir," I state blandly. "Stop looking away from me; I hate that".

His blue eyes slowly meet my gaze and he speaks humbly, "My Lady...One of the island's residents saw you playing with the foxes. They are a sacred animal on this island, said to grace anyone they trust with power and knowledge beyond our reckoning. Only one other person has been seen playing with the foxes, and he has been waiting for his wife for the passed five years. Now that you are here, we can deliver you to him".

"I'm not going anywhere," I bluntly state, "I'm not some deity. I'm just a woman who likes foxes".

This guy, along with the rest of the lot, is persistent, "My Lady! You must be our Mesu Kitsune-shin! Please, at the very least meet our Osu Kitsune-shin; we know he'd love to meet you"

I sigh and look to my Captain, "What do you think, Captain?"

Law has been silent for the most part up until I got his attention. "Go with them to see this man," he tells me and I blanch. Seriously?

"But...But what are-" I try as people around me cheer and begin to lead the way to where ever this guy is. The entire crowd passes Law and I, showing us that the mystery guy's place is further along the road; if we hadn't stopped we might have discovered him on our own.

"If nothing else, you can use your rank to take these people's gold, food and medical supplies. We are running low on all three, and if you can get them to us then so be it," he tells me.

"And what if I can't get it to you without a fight? The worship me but they worship this guy too," I question.

"Then we'll kill him and forcefully take everything we need," Law states. I open my mouth to protest, only for him to continue, "We are pirates, Creed-ya, we take what we need if need be. Am I wrong?"

"Well...No but-"

"Not all pirates are like those of the Straw Hats; they're odd balls in fact. If you're not happy with this situation, too bad," Law states. "Now go before you lose them".

I sigh. I'm not happy about this at all. I understand that we need what we need, but still. "Aye Captain," I mutter before taking off to follow them like I had been there the whole time. I don't turn back to look at the tall man. I only look ahead.

It's about an hour's walk way from the residential area of the town until I finally start to see signs of a building ahead. It must be rather large because at this distance it's rather tiny. Either that or it really is tiny and I just have good eyes. Either way, it's another hour and a half until we finally make it to the building. Which, as it turns out, is a fuckin' castle of all things. I look up at the red toned building with slight awe. Everything about it seems to be fox themed in color, its outside walls being red as fox fur, and stuff like windows and shutters, and the front door as well, is the same tawny color as the first fox I met's eyes.

"This is the place, my Lady," Mr. Blue Eyes comes to the back of his people. "Please allow me to make an announcement that you're here. I'm sure Osu Kitsune-shin will be delighted to hear that you've finally arrived". Why is everything quiet?

"That's alright, Gin, I saw everyone headed here a while back," a low voice speaks up from behind the silver haired man apparently named Gin. Said silver haired man jumps and begins to babble about something that I don't bother to try and make any sense of while he scrambles to get out of the stranger's way. My eyes fall upon a man that I find rather good looking. He's not as tall as Law, closer to my height if nothing else, and has a slim build that seems to carry a good amount of muscle. I can tell he's not much of a fighter though, according to his eyes. Maybe he's more of a strategist? His hair is a medium blue, with the front a bit longer than the back and it being on she slightly choppy side of things. The majority of his hair comes down to the nape of his neck, with two strands on each side of his head being longer than the rest and going down to his pectorals. His bangs mostly gather to rest between his eyes, this part being the longest of the bangs and coming to the middle of his nose, but there are some that rest on the outside of his face and over his eyes a bit. His eyes, now that I look at them, are a mix of gold and green. As in, one portion of his eye is gold, while another portion is green. He has a pale complexion, and there are red markings all over his person. One above each of his eyes, them coming down from his forehead and curving slightly to end towards the inside side of his eyes. Two marks on each of his cheeks along the jaw line, said marks starting on the jaw and ending about mid cheek. They're slightly slanted down too, and are as high as his ears. Around his neck is something of a simple chain pattern, and on his pectorals just below the collar bone is a repeat of the markings on his cheeks. On his right hand is a circling of red markings, which then leads down to circle around his wrist in three different lengthed lines. On his person, like everyone else, are short sleeves and shorts. However they look to be made of silk instead of cotton. The shirt is a button up that reminds me much of Lyst's in that the buttons don't start until his solar plexus, therefore leaving his chest to be shown off. His shorts are a creamy white, while he lacks shoes on his feet. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss," ahh, so a manners guy, "My name is Hanzai".

I can't deny that this guy is utterly beautiful, that much is true. And the manners thing is a nice change for once. But still, I'm not too sure about him. As he offers a hand for me to shake, I take it, "Creed," I give my name honestly. However as my hand is taken and I begin to shake, he promptly places a kiss on the back of it instead, bringing it up to his lips in order to do so.

"Hanzai-sama, this woman here was seen playing with the foxes just outside town!" Gin offers, "She has to be the woman you've been looking for all these years!"

A smile spreads across Hanzai's handsome face as he gently releases my hand and looks to Gin, "I will have to figure this out by getting to know her. The gift given to me by the foxes will tell me if she is the one or not. With that said, while I thank all of you for coming, I'll have to ask you to leave". The crowd isn't at all bothered with such a request, and they bow to the two of us before turning and going on their way. It isn't until they're a good bit away, that my attention goes back to Hanzai.

"So uhh...Listen," I begin, "I know that foxes are sacred here and all, now I do at least, but I'm telling you I'm not some sort of deity or whatever you think I might be".

Hanzai smiles down to me and takes to my side before motioning with a hand, "Why don't I give you a tour of my home and get to know you and you I? If you show me that you are or aren't who the towns people say you are, then we'll go from there".

I sigh. I just wanna go back to the in and have a damn drink. But no. If I go back now, Law's gonna be pissed. "Aright. Lead the way then, I guess". And he does just that.

Like the outside of the castle, when it comes to colors, everything is based on the red or arctic fox. After opening tawny colored doors, I'm greeted by a hallway with a door on each side, a double stair case that leads up both sides of the hall and to a balcony and a door. Under the balcony at the very end of the hall is another door. The hallway has that of a lush red carpet, the walls a nice white to complement it. He leads me to the door to the left, opening it for me to show the room behind it. This seems to be a study of some sort as the carpet this time is a casual white color, the walls a matching color, and furniture that of a light green. I would figure that there'd be a fire place too, if not for just show, but apparently there's not. But there is a coffee table, its wood being an off white just like the wood of the furniture, the carpet and the walls. After that, he leads me to the main hallway again and shows me to the next room on the right. The tiles of the kitchen are a lovely brown, while the walls are a gentle red and the counters and what not a black color. There's a door to my left upon entering the large kitchen, and Hanzi shows me that this door leads to the dinning room. The table is a dark brown, the carpet a bloody red, and the chandelier above is a sterling white. Back into the hallway we go, and through the door all the way at the end of the hallway. This, of all things, is a throne room and ball room all put into one. The windows are large and contained beautifully stained glass as blue as the lighter parts of my hair. The floor is a polished to perfection golden color, and the walls a welcoming white with multiple black chandeliers hanging above us. At the very back of the room and on a platform covered in lush rust orange carpet, are two thrones right next to one another. Their wood make is that of a dark red- cherry wood probably, and the cushioning is a dark red. Almost like blood. Then we turn around and go back into the main hall, and then head up the stairs to the second floor after heading through the door which immediately led to another set of stairs. The second floor is just like the first almost in that it has a main hall, this one perpendicular to the one down stairs, which leads to two doors. These doors lead to bedrooms for guests. The second floor's main hall is also attached to another, not so main, hall that's perpendicular to it. This leads to more not so main halls that lead to other bedrooms or bathrooms for guests. It is the third floor that I find out is dedicated to a single room fit for a king if nothing else. With a bed four times the size of a king sized, and a balcony that is along the entire side of the house on this floor that leads to the outside world, the room is massive. The floor is a welcoming ocean blue, while the walls are golden in color. The bed's covers are blue as well, but dark and matching to Hanzai's hair. Other than the bed, the room is fairly bare. The doors to the balcony are black, stark against the golden walls and the curtains that cover these doors match the floor. There's a single green toned chandelier that hangs from the ceiling. The tour then leads to him bringing me downstairs, through the throne/ball room and out one of the doors along said room's walls. This brings us to the rose garden maze behind the building. And that brings us to where we are now.

Once the tour is in the maze, we find ourselves talking like we said we would. Hanzai is a native to this island, and is twenty three years old two weeks ago. Therefore making him four years older than myself. Like any other native to this island, he sees the foxes as sacred animals, and worships them as he's been raised to think they should be. However he doesn't tend to push his beliefs on others when he comes upon them; myself included. He was twelve when he was able to wander out of town, and it was during the hotter part of the year that he had met a family of foxes. They had found no harm towards them coming from his person, and decided to see just what he was. And when he moved, as he had been simply lounging in the grass, they did not leave as he's heard them to do when seen by humans. Instead, they greeted him further, sniffing his clothing and hands and face. The older of the family of three dared to jump into his lap. He was found by an old baker's woman when this went down, and right away he was deemed the Osu Kitsune-shin hours later. He was given this castle, which had been dusty and broken down back then, and the towns people loyally fixed it up for him without a care in the world. At first he hated his new title, but over the years, he learned to love it. He liked the solitude, and the fact that very often he'd find fox kits playing somewhere near his home.

When it was my turn to tell him about myself, I had his undivided attention. I tell him just about everything about myself. Well, for the most part. Not the deep dark secrets, of course. I don't see why I shouldn't, he did so for me. I tell him of my full name and my origin in the South Blue, and of how I was literally born a pirate; being born to pirates themselves after all. I told him of how I ate the Kitsune Kitsune no Mi, a mythical zoan fruit that allows me to become the great and powerful Kyubbi no Kitsune. I tell him of the fire under my control because of this fruit as well. I tell him of some adventures I had with my family and crew, including the one about Princess Summer. I tell him of my solo journeys, such as one where I almost died simply being a woman on an all male island. I tell him of my almost becoming a slave to Eustass Kid, and my becoming a Heart Pirate instead. I end with the fact that we ended up here and how Law and I decided to go exploring.

"It sounds like you have been through a lot over the years, Creed," Hanzai tells me as we sit in the middle of the rose maze where a pavilion stands proudly. "However, even though I've just met you, I can tell you this. Your destiny is here, Creed. You are my Mesu Kitsune-shin, my destined wife. Please, stay with me". His voice is gentle and both my hands are in his own. My ember eyes meet his golden green ones. There is a look of pleading to those orbs, and I can't help but feel bad for him. I mean, why wouldn't I?

I purse my lips, "Sorry Hanzai, you're going to be waiting a bit longer. I'm a pirate through and through; I can't stay still for too long". I try to pull my hands from his own, but his grip is that of iron. My brows furrow, "If you'd let me go, that'd be great".

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Hanzai states, "You see, you will be my wife, Creed. We're destined for one another. Even though we've only met to day, I've quickly come to realize that...I love you".

Those three little words are very powerful apparently. As as soon as he says them, I'm frozen in shock, "I'm sorry?" There's a pulling at my heart that is painful. And it feels as though someone has it in their hand. However, Law never cut out my heart, and therefore he can't be the one squeezing it for no reason at all.

"I said," he shuffles a little bit closer, "I love you," why are his eyes glowing purple?

Not that it matters, because those three words make my heart jolt against whatever hand has it and beat like a hummingbird's wings. "Y-you do?" The hell? Why am I blushing like some normal girl? Stop it! Damn you body! Stop it right now!

"I do. Like I said. We've only met, but I've quickly come to realize the truth. I love you. And I'd do anything to make you happy".

"Anything?"

"Anything".

My heart flutters more against my will, and a bright smile spreads across my face. Instead of pulling my hands away, my fingers curl around his own hands, again against my currently fuming will. Why the hell won't my body listen to me?! God son of a bitch damn it! Move away body! Move damn you! "Then...Kiss me," my mouth says for me in the form of a coo. What?! No! I'm not giving this guy my first kiss! Fuck that! I don't know what he did, but I can't move my body. It's like it's on auto pilot. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you body. Fuck you Hanzai. Fuck you world. Law, where the hell are you when I actually fucking need you?! Or maybe Lyst?! Damn it! "Kiss me, hold me, love me, make me yours. I'm your queen and you my king. Please, I want to be yours forever," my mouth pleads as it moves closer to him. So close in fact, I'm straddling his hips my now and looking down at his face. Fuck you body.

He blinks the purple glow no longer there, but instead a triumphant look in his eyes. "Why don't we save the uh...The sex for after we get married? That's supposed to be a special night after all...However, I can do most of that right now". His arms wrap around my waist and he pulls me close. Next thing I know, there's a moan coming from me as our mouths touch and lock in a passionate kiss. My body presses against him flushedly, so there's no room between us, and his hands rest on my ass, squeezing it as he pleases. My hands are tangled in his blue locks, and my form is very warm. Very warm indeed. His tongue runs over my lip and my mouth grants him access without my say so. Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you! Fuck you body! The make out session ends a bit later with both of us panting and me still stradling.

"Are you sure you can't take me now," I press to him, burying my face in the nape of his neck and trailing kisses along it, "I wouldn't mind". Yes I fucking would!

I gasp as a hand leaves my ass and trails up my thigh, only to cup me teasingly. "I'd love to take you here and now. But I want you to be mine in body and soul through marriage".

"Then let's get married very soon. I don't know if I can handle waiting for too long or else," I nip his neck, "I'll have to do the pleasuring myself". Okay, that's just gross.

"Can you wait three days? That's how long it'll take for me to get everything together. Three days," Hanzai coos as a finger trails where it shouldn't be. This is just wrong. I'm not a prude or anything, but I don't like this guy. This is fuckin' rape right here.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: You Must Ask To Steal One's Heart**

Law's POV

It has been an hour or two since I've separated myself from Creed so that she could go meet this apparent fox deity that the people of this village seem to love so greatly. Upon arriving back at the inn, I am greeted by a boisterous crew save for the silent Lyst and an equally silent Jean Bart.

"Welcome back Captain!~" Calls out an already drinking Shachi, a girl on her lap. She's fairly pretty. Wavy blond hair, green eyes, makeup, long legs the usual for a decent whore. "Say, where's Creed?"

This of course get's Lyst's attention, pulling him from the duty of ignoring a woman hitting on him, and has him make his way to stand before me. "Shachi's right. Where is Creed?" He questions with a raised brow.

I smile to the younger man of my height, and take a pitcher of ale given to me by none other than a slap happy Penguin. "Creed-ya has been proclaimed the Mesu Kitsune-shin. Because of this, she has gone off to meet the apparent Osu Kitsune-shin as we speak. She's been given the orders to use her new position to get us what we need without any charge if she can".

Lyston's eyes narrow dangerously, "You let her go off with a bunch of strangers. To meet a strange man...What if she gets hurt?! Sure she's strong but she's not invincible! And what the hell is this 'deity' bullshit you're spewing, Captain?"

"Careful to remember who you're talking to, Lyston-ya," I remind him lightly.

"I can answer that for you," the woman in Shachi's lap tells us, a bright smile on her face. "The Osu and Mesu Kitsune-shin, or just Kitsune-shin for short, are basically the king and queen of this island. They rule with an iron fist, and allow us to either prosper or not. But that's only the basics. If you dig deeper into our culture you'll find that we see the Kitsune-shin duo as living gods, humans blessed by the sacred foxes of this island. Foxes, in our culture, are said to be quite powerful. Mostly in the art of deception and secrecy. When a human is blessed by the foxes, it is also said that they were born into the wrong body. A fox in human flesh. Normally the male is found before the female as is the case now. When the two Kitsune-shin marry and then mate for the first time, their human skins will be shed, and they will be given their true fox forms and then join the rest of the fox family in the woods".

"So, basically...You're telling me," Lyst turns to face the woman now, "Is that you lot think my best friend is a fox in human's skin. So a bunch of you took her to your 'king' to see if she was the real deal. And now they're going to get married, have sex of all things, and then turn into little red foxes and live happily ever after?"

"Yes," the woman nods as though there were nothing wrong. "And the fact that she hasn't come back yet must mean that Lord Hanzai's reign is about to end. As after all, once you're a fox you can't talk nor rule. And then we keep an eye out for the next Osu or even Mesu Kitsune-shin".

How...Fitting. The Kyubbi no Kitsune is to be a Kitsune-shin shin and turned into a real fox. "You said three days...Why three?"

"Well...," the woman taps her chin in thought, "The process of getting a wedding as grand as the marriage of two deities can only be done so fast; we're only human after all. But also, as the wedding day comes closer, the Kitsune-shin tend to become more and more fox like. It's rare that we get white foxes here, but it can happen. But still, as the hours pass by and the wedding day comes closer, it's as I said. Their hair normally turns a shade of red varying from rust orange to blood red. Their eyes turn a shade of brown from tawny to dark brown- unless they're lucky enough to become a white fox, then their eyes either turn blue, gold, green...sometimes even red- they get ears and tails and claws. Fur starts to sprout. And so on and so forth until their wedding night when they truly shed their skin".

How interesting. I'd like to see a human fox 'shed its skin' and become a real fox. I also wonder how this will effect Creed and her devil fruit powers. However, my thoughts are brought to a momentary halt by the sound of cheers outside. I raise a brow as the blonde woman bounces her way off of Shachi's drunken lap and makes her way hurriedly out the door. Something about her Lord and Lady making the first round. It must be Creed and the apparent other half of hers. "Gentlemen," I state, "Let us go see just what is going on". With Bepo on my right and Lyst silently on my left oddly enough, the others fill in. We're greeted by the setting sun, but also a crowd of people on either side of the street. Walking in the street is none other than my crew's second Super Nova, as well as some man. She's smiling and happy as can be it seems. I've never seen her so blissful before; not even with Lyst.

"Something's not right," I hear my medical assistant mutter.

I raise a brow and loo his way through the corner of my eye, "What do you mean, Lyst-ya?"

"She's smiling too much. She's like some normal school girl getting married. The Creed I know would never smile that much. Nor that widely. Sure she'd smile and be happy, but this is just too much," my eyes return to the Kyubbi, and I find myself agreeing with him. There's a glaze to her eyes as well that shouldn't be there. Too happy indeed.

My eyes fall upon the man who securely has his arm wrapped around her waist and holds her tight. He's not as tall as myself, closer to her height if nothing else, and has a slim build that seems to carry a good amount of muscle. His eyes tell me he is strategic and manipulative. His hair is a medium blue, with the front a bit longer than the back and it being on she slightly choppy side of things. The majority of his hair comes down to the nape of his neck, with two strands on each side of his head being longer than the rest and going down to his pectorals. His bangs mostly gather to rest between his eyes, this part being the longest of the bangs and coming to the middle of his nose, but there are some that rest on the outside of his face and over his eyes a bit. His eyes, now that I note their color, are a mix of gold and green. Another form of heterochromia. He has a pale complexion, and there are red markings all over his person. One above each of his eyes, them coming down from his forehead and curving slightly to end towards the inside side of his eyes. Two marks on each of his cheeks along the jaw line, said marks starting on the jaw and ending about mid cheek. They're slightly slanted down too, and are as high as his ears. Around his neck is something of a simple chain pattern, and on his pectorals just below the collar bone is a repeat of the markings on his cheeks. On his right hand is a circling of red markings, which then leads down to circle around his wrist in three different lengthed lines. On his person, like everyone else, are short sleeves and shorts. However they look to be made of silk instead of cotton. The shirt is a button up that reminds me much of Lyst's in that the buttons don't start until his solar plexus, therefore leaving his chest to be shown off. His shorts are a creamy white, while he lacks shoes on his feet.

It seems Creed has been convinced to wear something other than black for once, which is an odd sight. Her multi-colored hair has been braided neatly by deft hands, not a single strand out of place, leaving strands from the shortest layer to frame her face and neck in a jagged wave of red. In place of her black top is a red tank top that hugs nicely to her curves and shows off the bust that had been made to look smaller thanks to her usual attire being baggy around that area. Her pants are short shorts, barely covering her finely sculpted buttocks and showing of silky long legs and bare feet. On her right leg, the one I have the most view of, her tattoo is shown off in most of its black inked glory done by my own hand.

The duo stops, and all the cheering that had been happening up until now stops. "My beloved people of Sakura Island! I am happy to tell you that at last, after twelve long years, I you have helped me find my beloved Mesu Kitsune-shin!" The blue haired man declares, and the people cheer with glee. "As is tradition, we will take a walk through this very town once a day, while the rest of you work together to create a wedding worthy of the gods!" More cheering. "The first day will begin tomorrow as the sun rises; you have all of tonight to celebrate with us back at our home! However...Let it be known that we will have guests of honor other than Creed and myself. The very people who brought her to me, the Heart Pirates, will be our honored guests!" Golden green eyes fall upon my crew and I, recognizing me as the captain. "Because Captain Trafalgar Law and his crew were so kind to bring her to us, I will allow them to spend the rest of the night with her during the party. That way, they can say their goodbyes as needed".

"Thank you, Osu Kitsune-shin," I speak coolly. It's not long until it is time for the party to begin, and already my men and I have made it to the extravagant place that will apparently be Creed's new home. Music is playing all through out the building, but is centralized in the room in which we stand; the throne room. I've decided to be the only one to truly talk to Creed, much to Lyst's dislike, simply so that business can be taken care of. With a bow to the man, Hanzai, I offer my hand for Creed to take. Like a lady should, she delicately takes my hand and allows me to lead her around. We dance just so that her king won't get uncomfortable; however after this dance we will be leaving the room whether he realizes it or not. I pull her to my larger frame hand at her hip and another in hers as her free hand rests on my shoulder. As we dance, I lead her further away, towards the edge of the crowd, so that Hanzai cannot hear us. And as we get further away, I watch with interest as her eyes loose the glaze they've been holding all this time little by little.

"Thank fucking god," I hear the woman sigh out as the glaze is completely gone, "What the hell took you so damn long Law? That guy's a fraud!"

"A fraud?" I question.

"He's not really Mr. Nice guy. He's just some ass who wants to become a fox and be worshiped even more. You know the legend right?" I nod, "Good. Anyways, he really wants to go through with that bullshit. And what's worse, even though I don't, I can't help but agree to!"

"What do you mean?"

"The bastard's fuckin' controlling me god damn it!" She grumbles, eyes looking Hanzai's way. She growls, and then once the song is over promptly pulls me to a side of the room, and pulls me outside where we can talk privately. "He's got some sort of fuckin' power that makes me feel like I'm in love with him like some sort of puppy love struck school girl. And it's pissing me the fuck off". She sighs before letting out a huff and crossing her arms under her ample bosom. "We should leave...Now".

"I'm afraid we can't do that," I tell her lightly, "We still need supplies, and there are no near by islands that I know of". A lie. I want to see if this ritual is real. I also want to see what it'll do to her. However I refuse to let her know this; that'd ruin the surprise.

"You've fucking got to be kidding me! If this thing happens, I'm not only going to be basically raped, but also I won't be human any more. And you will be less one Super Nova subordinate," she snaps at me. I find that her anger makes her rather...Interesting. I haven't seen her this angry before; the wild anger in her eyes makes her pretty even.

I let her throw more curses at me before promptly placing a hand over her mouth firmly, careful not to get bitten by her fangs, "I don't think you will actually be raped. I would more so say, almost raped and then the changing would be gone through. At the very most, his penis would touch your vagina".

"Fucking great. Just fucking fantastic! I-"

"Creed? Love?" Hanzai speaks up, opening up the door to the outside world where we are, "The party is coming to an end. Have you said goodbye to your former captain to the fullest?"

I watch with interest as panic enters her eyes before they glaze over again with glee and love, "There you are!" She smiles and spins around to hang off of the man like a love struck pup. It's a sad sight really. "If you're ready for bed, then so am I!~" She kisses his cheek before looking my way, "Thank you for being my Captain for as long as you were, Law. I hope you find it in yourself to come and visit. If you do, I'll find you and bless you; then you can join the rest of us". It's after his that she and he leave- him nodding to me- most likely to go to bed. Things will most certainly be interesting.

Creed's POV

The only good thing about this is that the three days went by rather quickly. That's the only good thing I can see coming out of this. The rest of it was horrible. Over the track of three days, many things have gone on. One of them being my horniness. It's like every time I'm close to this guy, I can't help but take in his scent or feel him up some how. He's got a nice body and all, but that doesn't mean that I want it. He's an ass. A true ass. He knows what he's doing. And in fact, when we're not around people he'll randomly touch me where I don't want to be touched, and then laugh as my mouth moans without my consent. Fucking bastard. He knows I'm trapped in my own body, and he don't give a fuck. So long as my body thinks it's in love with him the change will work according to him. And he was right, the son of a bitch. The first day, there wasn't any change to myself save for the fact that my claws now rest at a nice two and a half inches long. Kinda gross but also kind of cool. I don't know, I like long claws. He on the other hand got himself fangs as long as my own, and an inch and a half long claws on his fingers. On the second day, something major about me did change. In the morning of the second day, my hair changed colors drastically. It went from an assortment of blues and reds and black, to nothing but shades of red, looking like the embodiment of fire, the roots are blood red. Luckily, it's kept its spiky waves, so I'm happy with that. But by the end of the second day, I was already supporting a red tail and red fur gloves on my hands, as well as a pair of fox ears.

Today is the wedding day. I'm standing here in elegant clothing of the purest white, something that goes perfectly with my hair. That's sad. Everyone is here, in the middle of the town, as we get married. I stand across from Hanzai, whose hair has turned a medium red, and his eyes the the darkest brown I've ever seen. His hands support black furred gloves and black claws, but a red tail that has a white tip. Along his chest is white fur, and on his shoulder is red. Men and women I don't care to know smile at me happily, while the Heart Pirates were kind enough to stay and watch me get married off. Lyst doesn't look happy at all, he's seething in fact. The others have neutral faces save for Penguin and Shachi who have decided to go with it and cheer with the villagers.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered her today to witness the joining of not a King and a Queen, but a God and a Goddess in holy matrimony". Ugh. Damn priest. And then he goes on about how he wishes our luck as lives as beautiful foxes and how he hopes one day it is us who starts a new of many fox families, if not one of us that graces the next pair. After the 'I do's, the wedding is sealed with a supposedly beautiful kiss, and we head into a carriage that was set up just for us. A driver gets us going so that we can get to our work.

However, with the state it's in, my body doesn't like having to wait. Before I or Hanzai know it, my body is straddling him and my hands are tearing at the tux he wears. My fangs and lips nibble at his neck, and my hips buck and grind into his own. "I want you," I whimper, "I need you". Over and over. But he does nothing. Not until we're there and his neck is covered in hickies and bite marks. As soon as the castle's door is closed, he's clawing at my clothing himself, returning passionate kisses and the sound of clothing tearing with each and every step towards our bedroom we make. I whine and moan and groan as we move, and by the time we're up the stairs I have his pants and under wear off. He's yet to take off mine and yet still he's already got me positioned for entrance. He'll buck into me as hard as he can against my under garments, causing me to squeal in want as we continue until finally, we're in our room.

"I want you inside me," I whine to him as he throws us to the bed with him on top. I tear my form away from him and rid myself of the white corset that I was wearing, "I want your big self to pound me into oblivion". God I sound like some whore. "Please!~" A very horny whore.

"I've been waiting twelve long years for this. No way am I waiting any longer!" He growls out. "I'm gonna cum in you, and then we're gonna continue fucking until you can't feel anything any more," he tells me, "And then I'm gonna fill your mouth with all I've got left".

That's just nasty! Ew, don't come near me! "Give me everything you have. Fill ever one of my holes!~" God this is wrong. He flips me over so that I'm on my belly, and then lifts me up so I'm on all fours. I wag my butt at him- god- and he grabs my hips before bucking against me without entrance. I moan lowly, "Please," I beg over and over. Until finally he's got himself positioned.

There's no warning at all when it happens. But I will say one thing. Ow. It hurts. God damn does it hurt. Why'd it have to be this way? You think I'm talking about sex, aren't you? You nasties. That nonsense that went on, tch, that's put a stop to just as soon as his sex touches mine. He didn't even get a centimeter into me before the change began. And my god does it hurt. Bones crack and muscles stretch. Tendons don't last even a few minutes with this change. I can hear on the floor Hanzai moaning. For him, it's not pain, it doesn't sound like. Instead, he gets pleasure. I scream long and loud as my spine decides to arch and break skin. Hanzai is done moaning by the time I'm half way through the change, and through bleary eyes I can see that although his body is still changing, he's passed out with a look of ecstasy. Lucky asshole. About half an hour of bones still constantly breaking and no end in the near future, my mind black out, and everything is dark. That is until I wake up literally moments before. I look to the sky and find no real difference in it save slight shift of the sun. However there's a huge difference about me. My eyes widen. I know this form. I know this form very well actually, and I'm surprised to be in it. I look around and down, finding the castle crushed under my form, but Hanzai's rust orange frame is perfectly fine. I stand, shaking my pelt free of debree.

"So this is what happens," I hear an all too familiar voice, and spot a coolly smiling law along with the rest of the crew. He looks up at me, careful to keep his hat on.

I lower my head and speak, though my jaws don't move, "What exactly do I look like?"

Lyst, whom is smiling to me brightly, explains, "You look like a body of fire, with how many different shades of red your fur is. Though there's white fire around your ankles, at the tips of your ears, and at the tips of all nine of your tails. Your legs are blood red, and your eyes are pitch black instead of red".

"Not much of a change, then," I sigh out through my nose, the hot air coming out as smoke as it usually did. I get a shrug from the silver haired young man and chuckle at his nonchalance.

My ears though fall back to be flat as people soon enough come to the rubble that is the castle, myself, and my crew. "What in the name of the Kitsune-shin happened here?!" Gin, who seems to like to speak for the town, yells.

"I crushed the building of a fraud," I state, turning my massive black eyes to those not of my crew. They look to me, recognizing my voice, only to scream and babble for a good ten minutes. I roll my eyes and demand, "Silence!" with a roar. "Is this how you react to a true fox god?!" Might as well as play the part

"What have you done with Hanzai, oh great fox? How is it that you are so large?" Gin questions.

I scoff and point to the newly awakened Hanzai, who yelps as his eyes land on me, body scared and tail tucked and ears flattened onto a lowered head. "I am the true god of foxes; you thought I was just some sort of human girl?! Ha! I took that form so that I could travel the oceans! Centuries ago your ancestors found me, and named me God, and my kin their sacred animal. I then left once all was settled, happy with the work they had done here. And yet I come back to find the position of Osu Kitsune-shin tainted by greed!" I point to the russet colored Hanzai with a single claw. "This cursed fraud as put my kind to shame! Trying to hypnotize me into becoming his so that he may become a fox! His punishment is death!"

"Great Kitsune!" A woman with long blue hair, hands clasped and body huddled to an also blue haired man's chest, "Please, spare our son! We know he has done wrong, but as his parents we are to blame! Kill us instead!"

"You two are the parents of this whelp?" Hanzai doesn't dare move.

"Yes, Kitsune," the father answers.

I look the two over and sigh. Mom and dad wouldn't be proud of me for this...Or maybe they would be...? Either way, my mind is made up. "Very well," I pause, and watch as their spirits lift, "The three of you will burn as a family!" One tail for the parents, a tail for Hanzai. "May you burn for all eternity," I snarl, tails holding them to my face before they burst into white hot flame. Their screams don't last long, and soon enough I'm waving my tails free of left overs. My eyes turn back down to the villagers left. "They took the fall for the whole village! Because I am a benevolent god, I will give you a second chance to do things properly. However, I have a demand. I am leaving with my crew, and we need all the supplies we can get. You will give us what you have, as part of your attonement".

"Great Kitsune!" Gin bows low, "We are humbled by your kindness, and will do as you command!" This is cool, being a god.

"You'd best up hold to your word," I snarl, and let white fire encase me. "Now...Go!" My human form comes back to me, two and a half inch long claws and all, and I flip my fire toned hair off my shoulder. The villagers scatter to do as told, and I approach my captain. "That was fun," state blandly.

"You," Lyst's eyes are wide, "You killed two innocents!"

I shrug, "They took one for the team. Plus they pissed me off, looking like Hanzai". My eyes fall onto Law, "You're okay with that, right Captain?" Lyst falls oddly silent. I would have figured that he would have fought more, but it doesn't look like it.

"Never better," he smiles out coolly, obviously pleased.

The rest of the evening is simply spent getting things onto the sub. I myself very much enjoyed bossing the villagers around, a whip of fire lashing out when people either fall out of place or stumble in their work. I'm a slave driver, so what? I'm not supposed to be a nice god after I've killed three people. Next to me stand Law and Lyst, while Bepo of course flanks Law humbly. We stand on a single roof top.

"...Are you alright Creed?" Lyst questions as the last of our new supplies.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I raise a brow, letting the whip of white fire disperse.

"Well...It's just that you almost were...You know...," he pauses, "I would have figured it scared you a bit is all".

I pause, wondering what the hell he was talking about. That is, until I realize what 'I know' was supposed to mean. A shiver runs through my and I become asshenly pale as compared to my normally normal pale self. I completely forgot about that. Thanks a lot Lyst, you ass. However, I sigh and manage to calm myself down. The fact that I wasn't basically raped is the upside of things, and as such I let out a nice long sigh. "I'll be okay," I tell him.

Lyst raises a brow and his mismatched eyes meet my own in an unsure manor, "You're sure? I mean-" I don't let him finish.

"I'm fine Lyst. Now if we could stop talking about it, that'd be great," I insist with a huff and a cross of my arms.  
"What was it like to 'shed your human skin', Creed-ya?" Law suddenly speaks up, eyes watching the crew finish taking the things on board.

I raise a brow. Why does he want to know what that's like? "It was painful as all hell," I tell him. "My bones wouldn't stop breaking and reforming, my tendons were stretched beyond their limits, my muscles ripped over and over. I think the only reason I survived that was because of my devil fruit; that's probably also why I became as big as I did".

"Captain!" I hear Syn call from atop the sub, "Everything's loaded and we're ready to go!"

"Get ready to submerge! Make sure everything is secure; we leave in two minutes," Law tells the, now my fellow, red head who nods in turn. "Bepo, make sure that they do everything right; check for stoaways as well, and put Kikoku in my room". The last order is given as he hands his nodachi over.

"Aye Captain!" The polar bear salutes, leaving the roof top with a nimble leap and movements as fluid as any human could make them. A few moments later, the bear appears on deck, looking to where the three of us stand. "All clear Captain!" He calls.

"Come Creed-ya, Lyst-ya, it's time to go," Law then states to me. With fluid grace, he easily makes his way off the roof top, Lyst and I closely following as we take off as well. And as soon as we're inside, the sub goes under.

However, just before I go inside I turn and glare at those seeing us off, "If I find out any of you did what Hanzai did today, I will come back one day- whether it's during that ruler's reign or not- and burn this place to the ground. Only foxes with prosper here, and not a single human may step onto the sand again". And then I turn and go inside as mentioned.

Months go on as we travel around the Grand Line, most of the time only stopping at an island to get our land legs again or for supplies when we need them. In this time, I begin to spend more time with Law, trying to teach him the ways of casual fun. And in return, he teaches me basic medical skills just as he had everyone else. I learned out to stitch closed a wound, how to keep it from getting infected. I learned to flay someone's skin, and how to cauterize a wound if need be- that was the easiest for me. I learned where the organs of the body were, and what bone was what. I learned what the brain did. By the time I've learned all this, it's been a year since Ace's failed execution. And by that time, I was actually able to be casual with my Captain, more so than anyone save Bepo even. I'm not afraid to lay on his bed, and I walk into his room without knocking. We joke and we drink together when the others are asleep. Of course I've gotten closer to Lyst as well. He's a real sweet heart, honestly. Ever since Sakura Island, he's been rather keen on being by my side when we went ashore. Not that I minded. However, despite his keenness, Law for whatever reason wanted just he and I to explore half the time. The other half I'd manage to talk Law into letting Lyst come along with us. Unfortunately, within three months after Sakura Island, Jean Bart found a better home for him than the sub which he some times piloted off and on between Syn and himself. Law agreed to let him go, knowing that we couldn't force him to stay on the sub with us if he didn't want to. He'd come to hate us if we did.

I didn't just learn things, as Law apparently made a goal for us to meet an ultimate goal. He never told me his past, only Bepo knowing it and the rest of us in the dark, but he decided that we're going to take down one of the strongest Yonko. A Yonko. A god damn Emperor for christ's sake! Why are we gonna take him down? Because Law wants to piss off Doflamingo, one of the War Lords of the Sea. Crazy bastard. And the reason for this? All I managed to get out of Bepo is that Doflamingo did something very bad to Law- whom used to part of said War Lord's crew, and therefore now Law hates him. By bringing down Kaido, we'd be taking down one of Doflaming's secret allies. However, being an Emperor of the sea isn't just some title you inherit; it's something that you get by working hard and becoming the strongest of the strong, and then become even stronger. A god in many assets really. Therefore we'll need help. I don't know where we're gonna get it, but guess I'll be able to find out today. After all, I've been asked to come by his room after lunch to talk privately with him.

"You wanted to talk with me?" I question, a raised brow on my person.

Law's eyes leave the book he's currently reading. That's something I always find him doing when he wants to talk to me on serious terms; he's always reading some sort of book. "I did...Sit," he motions to the chair he was sitting in as he stands, and I do as he commands. Best not to talk back when he's serious; he's my Captain still after all. "You know our plans for Doflamingo and Kaido," it's not a question, but I still nod. "I have a mission that I need you to complete for me". I raise a brow. A mission? We've never really separated before to be honest; the crew that is. We've always done something together, working like a well oiled machine. For him to tell me that I'm going to be doing something on my own is...Not alarming but surprising really. "Only you can do this, due to your influence on them. I know we need allies, or at least an ally to take down Kaido, and they need to be strong. As of currently, the only crew you have influence on is the Straw Hats. Their Captain likes you, and so does his brother. I need you to gain the rest of their trust. And if you think they'll be able to, contact me and let me know whether or not you think Straw Hat Luffy will agree to being out ally. I give you a year and a half. If, when the year and a half is over, and you find that he cannot be persuaded into taking Kaido down...You are to call me on the den den mushi I give you and we will come to get you. However, if they turn out to be as I expect, call, and I will give you further instructions. At the very least, we will be meeting up in the New World".

I listen closely to him as he stands before my sitting frame, taking in each and every letter he forms and locking it into my memory. So basically he wants me to be a spy. He wants me to win over the others and see if they're strong enough to hold their own. I get a year and a half to do this; win them over and gauge their power. If they're not strong enough, leave. If I can't win them over, leave. If I can do either, stay. Simple. Still, I don't like the thought of being some sort of spy. Not one bit. "I'm going to be a spy then...I don't like that," I honestly tell him.

"It is was is needed from you by your Captain," Law states. "Don't think of it as spying, if you dislike such a term. Think of it as information gathering". That doesn't sugar coat it at all.

"And what will I tell them if they ask why I've left you guys?" I question with narrowed eyes. I hate lying.

"Tell them you got in a fight with me; it's believable. Fire Fist won't think of it, nor will Straw Hat," Law answers simply.

"A year and a half? What will you be doing? How am I gonna get to Luffy and Ace as it is?"

"Yes. I will be working on becoming a War Lord. I've already managed to get Hancock to give us coordinates to the island; we're there already if you haven't noticed that we've stopped moving," he answers again. "We'll be coming up in less than a minute. You will gather what things you need; clothing and such, and then you will leave". He digs a hand into his pocket and pulls out a den den mushi, its hat the same as his own.

I sigh and stand myself, taking the little snail in my hand for the time being. I nod then, and leave the room, "I'll see you in a year and a half, then". I'm gonna miss everyone here, damn it. Packing my things takes little to no effort at all, seeing as I only have so much. And when I am done packing, I look through the port hole of my room to find blue skies instead of blue ocean; time to go. I sigh and make my way to the deck, only for my eyes to widen at the sight before me. It's not the forested island that catches my attention, but the people before me. On the deck of the sub I've been living on for the passed six months, is the crew of friends I've gotten to know over the same span of time. In the front of course is Law, hands in his pockets, and that usual look on his face. However it is not he that says his temporary good byes first. Instead, it's Syn.

His frame breaks from the small line up he and the rest of the crew has made, and walks towards me casually. There's a smile on his face as he wraps his arms around my smaller frame and he gives me something of a bear hug. "Good luck out there kiddo," he tells me, "If you get into trouble...Well I'm sure you'll get into trouble while you're with that crew so...Just kick ass".

I laugh and wrap my arms around his large frame as much as I can to return the hug. This big guy has become something of a brother over the months that I've spent on the sub. We didn't spend nearly as much time with one another as I did with Law and Lyst, but when we did hang out it was lots of fun. We'd joke about various things, whether it be over a drink or simply while I was cooking breakfast. He's the one who helped me discover that I only have three forms now disregarding the one I'm usually am. Two fox forms- one the size of a cat and the other as large as I was at Marineford- and a hybrid form which I've yet to show off- not that I've needed to. "I'll do my best Syn," I assure him lightly as we separate. Next up are Shachi and Penguin, double teaming me and sandwiching me between the two of them. These two I've only really spent time with via when we drank together or when they decided to bug me- which they didn't get to do often due to me spending my time with other people. Still, like the others we've become good friends.

"Don't fall in love with that crew and go cheating on the lot of us," Penguin demands.

"Yea, we'll hunt you down and drag you back here if you do," Shachi follows up. True words, even if they do sound like they were joking.

"Please," I laugh out, "There's no crew for me but the Heart Pirates". I wouldn't of said that six months ago, but now...Now this place is home.

Next, which surprises me, is Lyst. I would have figured he'd prefer to be last. However that's not how it seems to work at the moment. Like everyone else, he walks his frame to stand in front of me. He's silent for the time being, and I raise a brow after we've stood there for a good three minutes in silence. It's after these three minutes that he finally acts after just staring at me and doing nothing else. He wraps me into a tight hug, lowering his taller frame to hug me tighter and to rest his chin on my shoulder. His hold takes any and all space from between us, letting me feel his body heat through my black clothing. "Don't you dare get too hurt out there. Do you hear me? Come back to m-...Us...In one piece. Promise me," he demands into my ear, making me lock up. I can't make a promise like that. "Promise me," he demands again, this time, more sternly.

"I promise," I hug him back, but no where near as tight, "To do my best. That's the best I can give you".  
"I guess I'll have to settle for that," he sighs out before finally releasing me, "I'll hold you to it," he tells me as he hold me at arm's length now. He's the last one other than Law to say his goodbyes. Bepo and I aren't that close, but he did tell me good luck after Lyst let me go. So I'm fine with that.

Law stays as he is, gaze casually resting on me as he speaks to the men, "Get ready to submerge. We'll be doing so right after she's stepped off of the deck".

"What about you, Captain?" Bepo questions loyally as the others do as told, each saying one last goodbye as they pass me along.

"I'll be in in a minute," he tells the polar bear, "Go". He gets an 'eye' from his first mate, and within seconds it's just he and I.

I tilt my head, curious as to what his motives are, and less patient than I was with Lyst; I don't feel like waiting another three minutes damn it. "Did you need to say something special to me that you didn't want anyone else to hear?" I tease.

His lips momentarily twist into a smirk before falling back into his usual causally mocking smile. "Not quite," he tells me, "Room". I watch as the familiar translucent dome covers us, and I'm curious as to what's going on. I stay where I am even as he comes close to me, stopping not even a foot away. His eyes don't leave mine as suddenly another command is given, "Scalpel". The palm of his hand forcefully pushes against my chest, causing a jolt of pain to rush through my from the force. I gasp, and watch with both terror and fascination as a hole in the shape of a square appears in my chest where my heart used to be. It goes all the way through my person, and it leaves me breathless. Law removes his hand from me, and in that hand appears a clear box with a...A heart in it. It pulses in his hand, and he seems undeterred by this.

"Is that...Is that my heart?!" I demand with wide eyes.

"Yes," Law states.

"Why the hell did you take it?!" I demand again. But this time, I find myself light headed and out of breath. The world swims for a moment, the next I'm being propped up by Law holding onto one of my shoulders with his free hand. I pant and rely on said hand to keep my body from crashing to the ground.

I don't know what the look on Law's face is, I'm too busy trying to get the world to stop moving. "It's so I can keep an eye on you. I'll know if you're dead or not though this," he tells me simply. He takes his hand from my person, and I can't even begin to keep from face planting. I pant for a bit more, and after a few moments I attempt to get up, only for my body to fail me.

"That was uncalled for, Captain," I snarl as my arms refuse to work with me. Damn arms. I am your master, do as I say. Damn it, that didn't work.

"Untrue," he throws back as he crouches down in front of me, "I'm keeping an eye on you. Good luck. Come back to me in one piece". The last think I see is his eyes looking down at me as he picks me up, and all goes dark.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: A Mission Of Seeing Old Strangers**

The next time I'm awake, I find myself not on metal, but on earth. I smell nothing but nature; salty air mixed with some humidity and soft, slightly dry, grass under my butt. The bark I feel against my back feels like any other tree, but I can smell foliage around me as though there were bushes next to or around said tree. My nose tells me that there's a fire cooking meat. Lots of it, as well as some other things that I can't determine. My ears tell me of there being three different people in the area with me, but only one of them is relatively close to me when compared to the other two. Through closed eyes I determine that it's not day time anymore as it had been when I left the sub...The sub! With a jolt and a gasp, my shoulders push off from the bark I lay back against rapidly, and my eyes greet the clearing I'm in as they search. I see no sign of the sub. Nor any sign of the man whom had literally stolen my heart. I wonder how their doing, my crew mates. Do they miss me? Will Lyst be cooking for them again until I come back? Among other things, I think on the emptiness in my chest cavity. No longer to I feel the awake thump thumping of my heart that pumps blood from it and to the rest of my body. I feel as though there is a slight weightlessness on my shoulders, as anyone else would feel when missing something very important to them. My heart's just a little important after all. Ya know, keeps me alive and all.

I groan as my eyes still fight to focus on not only where I am, but due to the lack of light, "Damn...Where the fuck am I?"

There's a familiar light headed chuckle, and my ears don't catch onto it until the owner speaks, "You have quite the mouth on you, miss". Now...Why is that line so familiar?

Finally my eyes focus, and a broad smile spreads across my face as said occular orbs land on a kind white haired man with glasses and power that is hidden by his old age. "Eh? What of it old man? Are offended? Because if you are, I'll stop".

"Quite the opposite; it shows that you've got plenty of fire in you, miss," he chuckles out before pausing, "It's good to see you again, Creed".

"Good to see you too, Old Man," I grin back as I work on standing to my feet. I make it there, however doing so makes my world spin, and I stumble for a step or two, only for two strong hands to take a hold of my shoulder. For some obscure reason, I think of Law's hands. But as I look at them, I find no fingers marked with 'D.E.A.T.H'. Plus, they're not as long fingered as Law's are; however they're still large.

The owner of the hands speaks, "Woah, easy there Creed". Ace lowers himself so his eyes can meet my refocusing ones, "You okay there? We found you with your chest bandaged up and you sleeping against a tree near the eastern beach of the island? Where's your crew?"

"Yea!" I hear through munching noises, "Where's Tra-guy? I wanna thank him again! Maybe he'll have meat with us!"

I laugh as I place a hand on Ace's right one and stand on my own, this time much more stable and without an issue. My eyes land on Luffy, who wears a proud x-shaped scar, fully healed by now, on his chest. He wears his straw hat, but other than that it's just shorts and flip flops for him. Wonder where his shirt got to? Torn up from training? I back up from Ace's hold now, finding moving much easier as well, and my body fully awake despite the feeling of missing something important; that's gonna take some getting used to. "Captain and I had something of a falling out. Neither he nor I like to take orders, and when I refused to atone for not listening to him one time, we got into a fight. He said this, I said that, and next thing I know I'm on this island". I shrug, wondering if my heart is pounding with guilt as I lie ever so smoothly. "I don't really wanna talk about it actually".

"That's okay," Ace assures as he places a hand on my shoulder, this time comfortingly instead of steadyingly, "You can stay with us for as long as you want. Hell, you just might end up joining the crew!" He laughs. "That's alright, isn't it Captain?" He now directs to his still munching little brother.

"Yea! You can stay with us for as long as you want!" Luffy agrees, making me smile. He's such a sweet heart.

It's then that Old Man Raleigh speaks up, "If you're going to be staying with us, then you might as well as do some training yourself. Come, sit, have something to eat, and we'll talk". I do as told, taking a spot around the fire next to Ace, and I grin as he holds me a large drumstick of cooked meat. I gladly bite into it, finding out that I'm pretty damn hungry. "First off, please share with us what you can do".

I swallow my food and tilt my head lightly, "What I can do?" I get a nod. "Well...I'm trained in TaeKwon Do, and I've mixed that with improv fighting to get how I fight. My fox forms are my last resort; I have...Well I had five different forms in general. Now instead I only have three". I take a large bite of meat and swallow before clearing my throat, taking a swig of water as I'm offered some by the man to my left. Our fingers momentarily brush, and I see through the corner of my eye his muscles freeze for ever so short a moment. What was that for. "My weakest form is the one I'm in now; my human form. In this I can fight as I mentioned, and I can use fire as I please. Mine's a lot hotter than Ace's is, but still I can use it for long, mid or short range fighting. My next strongest form is what I like to call my Kyuubi form". I look to Ace and then to Raleigh, "I don't know if you've seen it, Old Man, and I know you haven't seen it Luffy. But for Ace, I can simply say that it's that giant fox form that threw you six months ago. My strongest form is my hybrid form; I don't often use it and it's very hard to control". I sigh and lean back onto a hand. "Other than that, that's all I've got. I've managed to scientifically use the basis of fire to use lightning to an extent, but by no means can I control it well".

The Old Man is quiet the entire time I'm talking, and by the end I'm wondering just what is going through that mind of his. There's a sly smile on his face, "How did your fire become so hot?"

I run a hand through my hair casually after throwing the bone of my meat stick into the fire, "It was always that way".

"Can you use Haki?" He goes on.

Haki? As in the power of one's own senses and will power that is in latent in all but few manage to hone? The act of not believing you will fail? That Haki? "Not at all," I tell him. "There was a guy on my parents' crew, Treason, who could use it rather well. He tried teaching me, but I didn't seem able to".

"How old were you?"

"I don't know...Nine or ten? Probably nine," I answer in turn.

The old man goes on, "Have you ever...Blocked or deflected something that you shouldn't have been able to? Or maybe sensed with nothing but instincts something that most couldn't?"

And of course I answer honestly, "I've more so experienced the second rather than the first".

The old man smiles lightly, "Then there's a good chance that your body wasn't ready to unlock the latent Haki in your body when this Treason fellow tried to teach you. However, if by now you've witnessed what you said, then it seems you are more than just ready". Raleigh lays back on his back, hands behind his head and being used as a pillow. "However, we will start your training tomorrow," and with that, he falls asleep.

It's not long before Luffy himself is finished with the meat he had been gulping down, nor is it long before he passes out. But I'm wide awake. Or at least I feel like I am. I was just going to stare at the fire and change it different colors until I got tired, but Ace has a different plan. He leans back on both of his hands as I do now, and lets his head turn my way so that he can actually look at me. "We haven't talked since our first meeting. Trafalgar been keeping you busy?"

"You could say that, yea," I turn my head to meet his gaze. "I really got along with this guy on the crew, Lyst, before Law and I had that fight that made me...Leave. I guess you could call us best friends...But then again I only knew him for six months. And then there's the fact that I got along with another guy, Syn; he was more like a brother to me than anything else. Law and I spent a lot of time together too; he taught me medical stuff and I taught him how to loosen up".

"So...It sounds like you were pretty popular with the guys there," he states.

"I guess you could say that," I shrug, "They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I was the chef while I was there".

"You can cook?" His eyes are wide, but there's a grin on his face."I've gotta try something you make".

"Sure can," I laugh, "Maybe if I'm not too tired, I'll make us all dinner tomorrow night". This makes him beam to me. Heh, just as food driven as his brother it seems.

We're silent for a little bit after that, our eyes on the fire as it continues to burn through the wood greedily. I wanna say it's a good ten minutes before he begins to speak again. "...You and Trafalgar didn't really get into a fight, did you?" Shit. "It's too convenient for you to wander your way to this island which is in the Calm Belt like Amazon Lily". Double shit.

I'm silent for a few minutes, letting the heat of the fire dance on my face and ruffle my hair as it pleases. Should I tell him? What if he tells Luffy? And then Luffy will tell the others when they meet up again. My mission will have failed before the first day of it was even through. "...You're right," I sigh out finally. "Law and I didn't get into a fight. Nor did I wander here; he brought me here".

"Then what are you doing here?" He questions coolly.

I sigh and push from my leaning position, opting for sitting scissors style and slouching so my elbows rest on my knees and my jaw in my hands. "I'm on a mission given to me by my Captain to see if Luffy and his crew are good candidates for becoming allies to the Heart Pirates for our Captain's plan".

He raises a left brow, "And what is this supposed plan?"  
"I don't know the whole of it to be honest. But the ultimate goal is apparently to take Donquixote Doflamingo down. I don't know what he did to Law, just that Law has a past with him and he hates him with all of his being". I pause and look towards Fire Fist before continuing, "In order to get to Doflamingo majorly, we apparently need to take down one of the Emperors, Kaido. We can't do that alone. No way; we'd die in minutes. We need help. And that help needs to be really really strong. Luffy is already damn strong, and he's gonna get stronger. Not only that, but you're on the crew now yourself, and then there's Roronoa Zoro who's a Super Nova like Luffy, Law and I. Three Super Novae and a former second division captain of the White Beard Pirates ups our chances against Kaido significantly".

Ace is silent for a moment or two, and then he speaks up, "Why do we need to take down someone like Kaido to take down someone like Doflamingo?"

"I don't know," I shrug out, "I didn't ask; not that he would tell me probably. I figure, though, that the two have some sort of deal going on. Still, it's my job to see if you guys are strong enough by the time a year and a half is over. If you are, I stay with you until Law comes to meet you for himself. If not...I go home".

"Where will Trafalgar meet us?"

"In the New World," I answer.

There's a pause for some more silence and then, "I can tell you now, Luffy will definitely help you and your Captain. He's that kind of guy. Not only that, but he'll see taking down Kaido as a sign that he's become stronger. Simple as that. If you take my word for it...You can stay until the New World right?"

"I have to have my own word for it I'm pretty sure," I tell him. "Which means I have to stay and get to know all of you, and then I can decide. It's not that I'm the one that will be asking Luffy to help us. That's Law's job. What I'm doing is...Testing the waters".

"I see...One more question," Ace requests after some thought it seems. "Why is your chest all bandaged up? Did you get hurt?"

I look down to my chest to see bandages around it. Not as to support my breasts, but as though I indeed got hurt. I sigh, and place a hand over where my heart should be, before deciding to show him. But in order to do that..., "Don't freak out, okay?" I prompt. That said, I shift into a kneeling position and begin to loosen my top just enough so I can slip my arms from my sleeves and let the rest pool around my waist.

"W-what are you doing?!" Ace demands, falling over and putting his hands in front of him in a 'stop!' motion. There's a light blush on his face, which is kind of cute I have to admit. Big bad Fire Fist is shy~.

"Calm down. I said not to freak out didn't I?" I scoff, and do as mentioned. From there, find the spot where the bandage is secured, and pull it free, causing everything else of the wrapping to easily tumble from its spot. When the bandages are gone, the square where my heart should be is seen clear as day. "Law took my heart. Literally. Said that it'd let him know if I died or not".

"Y-...You can function like that?" Ace's eyes are wide and unbelieving. "How is that even possible?"

"I don't know," I admit, "Now help me do this; I can't do it by myself". He stays still for a moment, and I have to repeat myself just to make sure he didn't fall asleep or something. Did I break him? Luckily I didn't. It's kind of weird, letting him wrap me up and be so close to me when I'm shirtless, so the whole time I'm wearing a blush. There are times when his calloused fingers will brush against my skin, them feeling cool when compared to the fire that constantly dances under my surface, and I can't help but twitch a bit from the feeling. However, when it's done, we decide to call it a night.

The next day comes swiftly, and I find myself standing before Raleigh next to Luffy. Leaning against a tree with his arms crossed is Ace. Why isn't he learning to do this? No matter. My eyes go back to the old man as he begins to talk. "Luffy, you have already gotten down the basics of Bosushoku Haki, which is basically one's will power hardening as a layer of armor over one's skin or one's held weapon. But now it's time that you both, Luffy and Creed, add Kenbunshoku Haki to your arsenal. Kenbunshoku Haki not only allows you limited prediction of your enemies attacks, but you can also use this to track or find beings when they are either too hard to see or in hiding".

"Alright! Let's go!" Luffy cheers, pumping a happy fist into the air, obviously excited to learn something that'll make him stronger.

Rayleigh grins to the boy and nods. "Alright then. Unfortunately, this is very hard to learn for reasons you will soon find out. Therefore we have to go to drastic measures," he tells us. From behind his back, he pulls eight rings, one looped on each of his fingers. "These are diluted sea stone cuffs without the chains connecting them. Diluted meaning that each pair is half the strength of what a single normal pair would be. You will wear them so that your devil fruit powers cannot come to aid you. Although neither of you are a logia user, Luffy your paramicia fruit allows you to be more durable to damage as you know well. Creed, I'm unsure of what your mythical zoan fruit does for you, however I'm sure it also helps you when it comes to physical damage. To negate this without both of you naturally relying on your powers, we will use these". He steps forward now, first setting up Luffy and watching the boy slump tiredly. I'm tempted to try and make the man back off by burning him as he approaches me. Fuckin' hate sea stone. However I contain myself, and allow the cuffs to be put around both wrists and ankles. The effect is immediate, making my shoulders slump and all energy leave my person. "Kenbushoku Haki is so hard to learn because it has to do with your mind's eye. You sense the intent of something happening in terms of when you're fighting. And in doing so, you see a momentary flash of what's going to happen seconds before it actually happens, which then you should be able to counter attack, block or dodge. Adapting to seeing these little flashes of the future is very hard to get used to, and doesn't mean you won't get hit if you're not fast enough...When you're tracking someone, it's merely finding their will and using it to bring yourself closer to them".

"So...Now what?" I question as now tired eyes look to the old man.

"Now I take Luffy, and if Ace is kind enough he will take you to a different clearing to begin your training," Rayleigh tells me with a smile as he places a hand on Luffy's shoulder and leads him out of the clearing what we use as our camp grounds.

Tired eyes look to Ace as he pushes off from his tree and approaches me with a smile, "Ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," I sigh out, "This sucks". And so we leave, headed for what I figure to be the south side of the island. We walk through brush and what not for about half an hour before finally coming to a decent sized clearing with no sign of Luffy and Rayleigh in sight. We position ourselves about two yards away from one another, him with his perfectly alert self, and me slumping and tired. He wastes no time in rushing me, and next thing I know, there's a fist in my gut causing me to cough up a bit of blood. I stumble off of the limb and clutch my stomach. "God damn it that hurt!" I yell to the man n front of me. "What are you doing?!"  
"I can't let you get Luffy in the trouble you plan on getting him in to," there's a dark glare on his face. "I know that you'll find out that he'll become rather strong in the year and a half that you'll be here. And that you won't leave until he proves to you that he's not worthy of your Captain's plans. But I also know that he will be worthy, and that he'll end up getting killed if he goes against Kaido".

"Wh...Why the fuck are you beating me up then?! Let me do my job, and let Luffy make his own choices!" I snarl out.

"Having a stupid little brother makes an older brother like me worry. It's a never ending circle. Luffy will get stronger, you'll report this to Trafalgar, and he'll come to ask Luffy to help him. Luffy will say yes, we'll by some strange form of luck find Kaido, and not only will my brother and I die, but so will the rest of the crew," Ace states. "The only way around this, as I see it, is for you to die". He comes at me again, this time a punch coming at my face far too fast for my current condition to allow me to follow. His fist meets its target, and I'm sent sprawling to the ground with a grunt. I can already feel my cheek swelling, and my jaw protests at the fact that it's open so that I can pant. That fucking hurt too. "Get up," he kicks me in the side, making my ribs groan and making my body fly into a tree and crash through it. "I said get up," he tells me, picking me up by the collar of my shirt and putting me on my feet. "Fight back," he demands.

I look at him through tired eyes and wish so badly for fire to dance under my skin. I wish so badly that I could burn him. I fall into a stance, pushing aside the tiredness as best I can, and begin to come at him. Punch, punch, turn kick, hooking kick, flying punch, knife hand to the neck, side piercing ki- fly through another tree and stop by rolling over and over. Pause, get up, fall into stance, charge. Claw at his yes, at his face, at his throat, aim for his stomach, kick for the balls, kick to the ribs, pu- get caught and thrown into the ground once, twice, three times then thrown into another tree. Get punched in the solar plexus, in the gut again, just above my kidneys. Block, barely duck under, pressing kick to his knee, trip him up, block, cartwheel, block block, get pushed back, head butt. Block, block, block, barely block, get kicked in the ribs again, block block, duck, move around the punch only to get my face slammed into the ground. Try to get up, only to find a foot grinding into my spine. I groan, but refuse to stop trying. I place my hands at my shoulders and demand that my muscles work with me here. I am your master arms, you failed me once. I'll not have you fail me again. It seems my arms are on my side this time despite the beating and the lack of energy currently in my person. They push me up even though Ace's foot threatens to break my spine in two. Slowly, one by one, my two legs gather under me despite the pain, and even as he presses down more making me growl, I push myself to the side and out from under his foot. I roll to my feet and fall into a stance one more time. He gladly takes the challenge, and for once I'm the one to come to him from across the distance. I snarl as my hands lash out what they can dish, my feet giving back up support in this long range fight. Whether it seems like it or not, it's been a good while since this fight has begun, and the sun is starting to go down. I fear that this may be my last day alive; I have no more energy to spare.

Suddenly something happens, though. As we're exchanging punches, his connecting with my person and mine going through him, in my mind there's a picture that appears, showing me that a foot is coming for my chin. Distracted by this, I react to the picture and barely manage to move around the foot before slamming my wrist of all things against Ace's throat. Sea Stone connects with devil fruit user flesh that isn't mine, and Ace goes flying back as a result. He lands on his back with a grunt, and I stand my ground. All falls silent.

Then, there's chuckling, "Finally," I hear Ace say to me, "Finally it clicked". He gets up with a smile, and not a trace of killing intent on his person, "I was starting to get worried". What?

"W...What?" My fractured jaw demands as I pant through bruised ribs and an over all battered body. My clothing is ripped, my skin torn, hair a mess. And yet here I am, standing and still ready- barely- to fight.

He continues to smile and makes his way towards me, holding up his hands to show that he means no harm. I keep my stance though. "I knew you wouldn't of taken me seriously if you were just training. You're like Luffy in that way; you need your life to be threatened for things to click". By the time he's done talking, he's right in front of me, and gently pushing my balled up hands down. I don't have the energy to fight.

"How did you know it'd work?" I question.

"You're incredibly loyal, seeing as you're willing to leave your home for your Captain and see what will happen just for his plans to work. It doesn't seem like much, since he's the Captain, but trust me, it is". My tired mind barely comprehends his words. "Given that, and the fact that you refused to give up, told me that you were determined despite your lack of energy. Remember, Haki is basically the disbelief that you will fail. You don't believe you'd fail. You kept on getting up. Even when the worst came to you, you still fought. That kick to your chin? That would have easily broken all your teeth, your jaw, and if your tongue was between your teeth, your tongue as well. Probably would of really hurt your neck too...Still...Now that your Haki has woken up...You don't need these any more". From there, he picks up my hands and pulls a key from his pocket before going to each sea stone cuff and unlocking them. Even though energy floods back to me, I'm just too tired to do anything. The only thing I can do, is pass out. My face comes in contact with hardened muscle covered by smooth skin, and hands gently grasp my shoulders. All becomes dark. I've really gotta stop passing out; it's annoying.

The rest of the year and a half that I'm there with those three men, I continue training with Ace's help. Rayleigh for the most part focuses on Luffy. Over that year and a half, I learn a whole bunch of things. I've learned to perfectly hone my Kenbunshoku Haki, and found that while I'm rather good at using it in a fight- to the point where I don't even really try to use it, it just happens- I'm even better at using it to track. I want to say that the radius for my tracking skills has to be about twenty miles. Pretty damn good if I do say so myself. And I do say so. Using Bosushoku, which Rayleigh had me try to learn, was even harder to learn to use and get used to than Kenbunshoku. Luckily, thanks to knowing what using Haki in general felt like after using it the first time, I had a general idea on how to bring the Bosushoku Haki forward. I prefer to centralize it in my claws, making each one of them two and a half inch long swords on each of my fingers. After half a year passed by, Ace had suggested I do some massive weight training, as he found that although I was strong, I wasn't nearly as strong as I would need to be when the time came. Therefore Rayleigh- somehow- managed to get me not only arm and leg weights, but a torso one as well. However, it wasn't him just helping me to get stronger, it was the other way around. He recalled to me one day of how I got to him and Luffy on Marineford, by becoming lightning when clearly that's not my ability. However, I was kind enough to give him my knowledge. I told him of how fire gives off heat as he knows well, and of how heat, is friction which if there's enough can be turned into energy which in turn makes lightning. I also told him of how god damn painful it was to do that, that day. Of how it felt like I had burnt my insides to nothing but a crisp. However, he still wanted to learn how to do it. So, we worked on it. There were two things we discovered as a result, in trying to help Ace learn how to do as I did on that day. One, the hottest his fire could go was a very light blue. Not white, but not the average blue you see in the middle of normal fire. A blue that just couldn't cross the line between blue and white hot. We also learned that although he had the aspect of heat and friction and energy down, he couldn't do what I could. What he could do though was something different. He could take body heat away by using my heat theory, and use that to his advantage. What does this do for him? Well, simple. Instead of turning into lightning due to the heat of his fire, if he slammed his hands down onto the ground, and released his hottest fire, the tiniest bit of friction his hands make by colliding with the ground is just enough to make electricity- all the fire needed was the tiniest of nudges- which would then travel through the earth and take down anything he commanded it to.

Time passed by as it should, and not only did training go well, but so did my information gathering. The more I trained, the more Luffy and I got to know each other. By the end of the two years- one and a half for me- was over, we became regular sparring partners, finding that we preferred it this way. In his mind, he considers me a nakama, which I'm truly honored and humbled by. But that also hurts because I feel the same way for him as I would any of the men on the Heart Pirates crew. He's an excellent friend, and despite his thick headedness and his seemingly random way of life, he's actually quite smart and is an over all good captain. When I wasn't training off on my own, which I often did at night, or when I wasn't sparring with Luffy, I spent time with Ace.

Ace is as great a guy as one can get someone to think of them without falling in love with them. While he's got the fighting spirit- the Will of D, as Rayleigh calls it- like his brother, he's got manners and he's much more observational. As if my first night on this island hadn't already given that away. I learned that he loves to party, and loves to have over all fun. He told me of his past; of how he found out his birth father's name and of how he'd half kill anyone who spoke ill of him. According to Ace, only he's allowed to speak ill of his father, owing him nothing. Anyone else who lives on the sea owes him their lives. He brought fort the pirate age, he brought to life the dreams of thousands of pirates young and old. He gave the navy true reason to take on such a job. Him him him. I also learned of how Ace and Luffy met, and then of how together they met the boy named Sabo; a noble who hated being one. He told me of their adventures, and of how strong he and Sabo were even back then. While Ace would beat both Sabo and Luffy regularly, Luffy had the least number of times he beat Ace, while Sabo beat him twenty four out of fifty times they fought a day. Sabo would beat Luffy each and every time just like Ace would. Being the youngest brother of the three of them must have really sucked back then. I was then told of Sabo's untimely death, and the meaning of the crossed out S on Ace's arm meant so much more. The story telling didn't end there though. He told me of his first pirate crew, the Spade Pirates, with him being the Captain and of course Ace of Spades. He told me of how he met Red Haired Shanks, one of the Yonko and the man to have not only saved Luffy's life, but also have given him his straw hat. He told me of how he fought on even terms with Jinbe, and then fought White Beard at full power after the one between he and Jimbe ended. He told me of how many times he tried to kill the old man, as well as when he became the Second Division Commander and took on the tattoo on his back. Telling these stories made Ace cry, I have to admit, but even so there was a proud smile on his face. He was very proud to be one of White Beard's many sons.

In return for his stories, I told him of my own. Of how my life was so much easier being born and raised what I wanted to be, where as he had to fight for it. I told him of the island where Princess Summer was, and of one time when I got lost on one of the South Blue's larger islands, and burnt down a forest because I thought my crew was lost, and not I. I told him of how I came upon the Kitsune Kitsune no Mi. I don't remember how little I had been, but I do know that I was rather young seeing as I couldn't talk all that well. We had just left port from an island that we had only stopped by to see if a legend was right. It wasn't, sadly. Cruz, the gunsman of the crew, did have a rather nice find before we left, and he was rather proud of it. I had always been the kind of child that when I wanted something, I took it. Even if it did get me into trouble. And man did it get the whole crew into trouble when I did that in the market place of an island's town. Still, this is the Victory's Song we're talking about, so I cared even less if I was caught. The thing in his hand was of a white color, like something that had been out in the sun too long and all the color was taken away. I liked it though, it was pretty, like clouds or snow that I'd heard so many stories about- there's no snow in the South Blue. It had nine stems, and while it was white like snow, it looked like a ball of fire. None the less, I asked to have it, and of course Cruz said 'no' with the reason being that he didn't want to share it. I didn't like that at all. So that night, as he and the others decided to throw a random party, I went into his room. No one locked their doors. Why would they?. I searched and searched until finally I found it. I didn't know what it was, but up close to me it looked like food. I wasn't hungry, but I didn't want Cruz to be able to have it simply because I wanted it. What Cruz came to his room to find was me finishing off the fruit, and complaining of its nastiness. Cruz freaked out, and demanded that I throw the fruit up. No matter what he did, I kept my nasty food in my stomach. After that, Cruz wouldn't talk to me for months. And the only reason he answered my dad about what fruit I ate was because my dad was the Captain and ordered him to tell him. So, he told not only my dad, but the others as well. And after that, the rest is history.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Off To Fishman Island; Conflict**

I smile. Today is a new day, and I find myself standing between to two men I've come to know as good friends. The three of us have changed a lot, to be honest, over the year and a half that I've been here. While Luffy and I grew in different ways, Ace himself mostly changed in terms of personality. More fiery in temper, a bit less cocky in exchange for more wisdom. He did change a bit physically, getting more muscle and having slightly longer hair and just a bit more tanned skin. But other than that he changed the least out of the three of us.

Luffy, I've got to say, on the other hand has changed the most out of us. He's still reckless and loud and meat loving. And of course always up to a fight. However, he's also made room for more knowledge or wisdom on when to stay on the down low and when it's fine to be free as the bird brain he is. He's about five eight and a half feet now, and instead of a simple red vest, he's got an open red shirt of the same color the vest used to be. Around the middle of his forearms and his wrists the shirt flairs, and it does the same around his waist as it stays open to show off his bulkier build and the x-shaped scar that'll always be there. A yellow sash goes around his wast and the ends hang over his left leg, ending at about the same height as his unchanged shorts do. Of course he has his sandals on as well.

Me? I've only really changed in terms of looks. I've finally fully filled out, now at the age of twenty years old, for one. I'm done growing, having stayed at the simple height of five foot nine. My eyes are still as ember as ever. However, that's where the sameness stops in terms of what I look like. While My hair used to be in choppy layers of spiked waves, it's now smooth with a wave here and there. Not a spike of hair in sight. It's grown to hang at my lower thighs even as it stays in a high pony tail. Over the year and a half, it's darkened to the point of being black with a crimson tint, just like my dad's hair used to be. Bangs frame my face, with the outside ones being longer than those across my forehead- about mid neck length- while said forehead bangs are longer, coming down to about the bridge of my nose, than those that lead to them. My clothing is showy, in that my shirt is designed to look like nothing but wraps, and shows plenty of cleavage Yes, this also shows the hole in my chest, but I honestly don't mind. There are no sleeves only my bust holds the skin tight shirt up and nothing more; there's a hole in the shirt that shows my belly button and a bit of my toned stomach. Around my arms, going from wrist to upper arm are haphazardly wrapped bandages that manage to stay on my arms. How? Magic. Around my waist s what used to be a cloak that I wore for a little while only for it to get torn to shreds. I liked how it looked with my clothing so...I kept it hanging here. My pants remain black, and I keep my wajari, though. Like Ace, I'm a bit tanner than I used to be, but it's not that much of a difference. Like my hair, my fox form's fur has become black, and much less wild looking. However, the white fire still dances around my tails' tips and my wrists and ankles. I've completely gotten rid of the smaller fox forms, leaving me with simply that large one that I'm so well known for. I don't know why my hair changed color, maybe because of my family genes- dad used to be blonde until it got darker and darker until it was completely black. The last change, which isn't that noticeable, is that my claws have turned black. They're not rotting or anything, as I thought they were when they started turning, though.

Today is no ordinary day. No no. Today, is the day that Luffy reunites with his crew, reintroduces Ace whom this time really is joining them, and introduces me who will be tagging along for a while. On the ocean about fifteen minutes away is the ship belonging to the Kuja Pirates and therefore Boa Hancock. I sigh, this'll be fun. The woman isn't the biggest fan of me, seeing as I am a woman and I'm near Luffy- she's some how fallen in love with him. I feel an arm throw itself around my waist and jump a bit at the sudden contact, going so far as to pull away as it tries to pull me close. "Ace, what the hell are you doing?"

"Keeping you out of trouble," he tells me as he manages to pull me closer due to my confusion. "Just go with it. If Hancock thinks we're a thing, then she'll be less likely to lash out at you for whatever reason she can come up with".

I sigh before shaking my head. This is weird. But still, I don't feel like dealing with Hancock so I'll have to go with it as Ace says. My arm wraps around his waist in return and pull myself even closer, letting my thumb hook in the hem of his pants lightly. I feel his grip on me tighten for a second and I look his way, curiously, "You nervous about showing the world that you're still alive?"

"T-That's not it at all," Ace tells me, but doesn't tell me what's up. So I have no choice but to let it drop.

The trip to Sanbondy wasn't all that eventful really, and I've got to say that it was kind of boring. Sure I was relieved to find Hancock assuming Ace and I are together, but that's the only thing that made things interesting. How? Simple. Seeing as it would take about a day to get to our destination, Hancock was kind enough to give us rooms to stay in. And by us, I mean Ace and I. And when I say rooms, I mean room. Luffy, as it turns out, is too excited to sleep- as he has been for the passed three days- and therefore opted for simply sitting on the ship's deck so that when we got there, he'd see it first.

Still, here Ace and I are, standing in the same room awkwardly- well, I'm feeling awkward at least- as we try to decide on who gets the bed. Ace keeps on saying that he has no problem sharing, and that he'll keep his hands to himself. But I've seen him sleep- not stalkerish at all- and when it's not from a fit of narcolepsy he's spread all over the place. I though insist that I take the floor and he the bed; it won't be that big of a deal to me anyways.

"Come on Creed, it won't be that bad. Honest. I can control myself even in my sleep if need be," Ace tries one more time.

"Honest," I throw back, "It's okay if I sleep on the floor for one simple night. It's not gonna kill me. I've been sleeping on a forest floor for the last year and a half".

"Which is why you should be pampered at least a little bit". He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, "Okay, you know what? Let's play for it. You win, you get what you want and can sleep on the floor. But if I win, we're sharing the bed. Deal?" I'm hesitant at first, but none the less shake his offered hand. "Alright, we'll play rock, paper scissors; best two out of three". And so we go. Rock. Paper. Scissors. Shoot! My paper beats his rock. Yes! Me: 1, Him: 0. Rock. Paper. Scissors. Shoot! Ahh shit. His rock beats my scissors. That's one to one. Rock...Paper...Scissors...SHOOT!... "Ha! I win!" Ace beams, cutting my paper with his scissors and calling the game.

"Damn it," I grumble and sigh. But, I'm a woman of my word so I'm not gonna try to get out of this. "Alright...Are you ready for bed then?" I question casually. I get a nod and nod myself before climbing in once my wajari and socks are off. I cover myself up before closing my eyes for sleep. Ace settles down on the bed a few moments after me, and I wait to fully relax until after he's fully settled. However, just as I begin to doze off, I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist and pull me close. "Ace!" I'm awake now, eyes wide and my head turned as far back as I can make it go, "Ace! What do you think you're doing?!" I don't get an answer and hear a light snoring sound meaning that he must still be asleep. I scoff and move to pull out of his hold, but that only ends up with my lethargic form pressed to his bare chest even more. I growl to myself and somehow- how I can even breathe I don't know- move in the bone crushingly firm hold so that I'm facing him, I poke his face with a single claw, only for nothing to happen. Well, that is until try to shove my claws through his person. That seems like it's over the top, but he said he'd keep his hands to himself even if he were asleep. A hand blocks my claws, and pushes it down before they can make contact. My eyes dart up to closed ones. Fine, if he's gonna play it that way...I growl again before promptly biting his neck at the juncture of his shoulder and it. I had done it in hopes that he'd wake up and realize just what's going on. However what I get is a low moaning sound and my body even closer to his. You've. Gotta be. Fuckin'. Kidding. Me! I sigh and release him from my jaws and then sigh again. Fuck this. I sigh, and close my eyes for sleep.

"Are you sure you want to leave and do this Luffy?!" Hancock calls from the deck of her ship as we take a step off. She's been kind enough to give us cloaks to hide or appearances and Luffy got a giant bento as well.

"No," Luffy turns to face the woman, "Thank you though, Hancock, for everything". The woman hotly blushes, and promptly becomes faint. Good job Luffy, you broke a Warlord by simply thanking her. Only you would be able to do that.

To say that the rest of the day was eventful would be an understatement. It was crazy. First, we found out that Luffy was being impersonator by some asshole. Then we ran into said impersonator and Luffy didn't do a thing. Then we ran into some guys who were supposed to be Sanji and Zoro, and we followed them. Let's just say that somehow the marines found out that the real Luffy was out and about again, and that some person named Santaro in charge of Pastafistas was sent out to put Luffy behind bars for real this time. That was shortly stopped, what with Luffy taking down the first one, the real Zoro and Sanji taking down the second, and Ace and I taking down the third. This left us free to wander back off to their ship, where we met the others. Everyone's changed a whole lot since I last saw them for all of like...Fifteen minutes. They've all grown a lot stronger; I can feel it. None the less, with the ship coated and the entire crew there, we set off to descend under the surface of the water. While the others decided now was a good time to be in awe, I contained myself. After all, soon enough I'll be going back to the sub and be constantly under water as it is. Once everyone was settled down, Frankie- whom had become absolutely huge- decided to tell the story of Bartholomew Kuma. As it had turned out, he was a revolutionary and an ally of Luffy's father. That's something I can't get over by the way. Luffy, care free Luffy, is the son of one of the world's most wanted men. I'd be less surprised if Ace was his son instead, and it was Luffy who was Roger's son. But no. None the less, when two guys whose names I don't care to remember, started to get too tired and beaten up to protect the Sunny Go, Kuma took over that job. Damn. Now, we're eating away on the food that Hancock had made just for Luffy, whom had decided to share in celebration.

"Are we going to find out who these two people are or not?" Zoro suddenly speaks up, taking us from the momentary calm and happiness that the crew gained from their meeting up again. Ace and I have yet to take off our cloaks as Luffy had mentioned wanting to surprise his nakama.

"Oh yea!" The boy laughs out merrily. He looks to us casually and tells us, "You guys can take off your cloaks now".

Ace decides that he'll go first and with a sigh he throws it off and to the side, "Ahh, that's so much better!" He grins out, leaning against Sunny Go's mast from where we sit. He looks to me, "Come on now, don't be shy~".

I sigh and roll my momentarily hidden eyes before my cloak bursts up in white fire, burning until it's completely gone. "You're right," I smirk to the logia user, "That is much better".

Three...Two...One..., "EHHHHHHH?!" Those who are lost intone loudly as one. Luffy in the mean time merely laughs, happy to see the confusion. The prankster.

"I understand Ace. You invited him to join the crew back when we were helping Vivi!" Nami is the first to exclaim from her spot, "But who is the girl?"

"She's the one who saved Ace!" Luffy proudly declares. "She's just tagging along though".

"Tagging along?" Zoro demands, "What's that supposed to mean? Why aren't you with the Heart Pirates".

I sigh, "My Captain and I had a bit of a spat, and I decided to leave for a little while so I could cool down and go back without melting the sub or something like that. I wandered for a good while until I found where Luffy and Ace were staying. I told Luffy what happened and he welcomed me to stay for as long as I want".

"Luffy is this true?" Robin questions, her alto voice curious and wary.

"Shishishishishishishishi," Luffy lets out his distinct laugh, "Of course it is!" He grins.

"Luffy I don't think that's so super," Frankie speaks up, "She's from another crew!" Shit, things are going down hill.

"If you guys are worried about me giving information on you all to Law, then you're wrong. He's my Captain, and he's my friend. But that doesn't mean that you guys aren't my friends as well. You guys did basically save me from being sold off after all," I assure them as best I can. "And if need be, I'll fight with you guys through thick and thin".

All is silent until, "I support you Creed-san!~" The blond that is Sanji smiles, his body as wiggly as a noodle as he dances around me. "How can I not?~"

I smile to his antics. Weirdo. "Thank you Sanji. I appreciate that".

"Yohohohoho! Miss Creed, I'll support you on one condition," the skeleton- Brook I think his name is, never really talked to him last time- sing songs.

I raise a brow, "And what would that be?"

"May I see your panties?" He requests.

For a second, I do nothing as I'm trying to process what he just said. Did he just...Did he just ask to see my underwear?! Fire dances under my skin as can be shown by the burning smell of wood where my hands hold onto the seat I'm in. "Hell no!" I snarl.

"Who the hell do you think you are, perverted skeleton!" Ace promptly sends a punch the Afro being's way, sending him flying.

"What the hell Brook?!" Zoro of all newly met people growls out, pointing a sword the man's way.

My reaction was a given. But the other two were kind of a surprise. I blink and tilt my head. That was weird. None the less I sigh, and my attention is given to the long nosed one of the crew. Damn. He really bulked up in two years. Never thought I'd see the say when he was actually decently built. "Wait. Luffy, aren't you forgetting something? We only have one bedroom left open, and there's two of them".

"That's okay," Ace assures casually, "There was the same issue on Hancocks ship on the way to Sabondy. Creed and I will just bunk together". He grins my way, "You don't mind, right?"

My eyes widen and my shoulders stiffen. Does he not remember what he did last night? How we woke up? Ugh, the dork. But still. I'd rather share a room with him than with one of the girls whom basically just met. I sigh, "Yea, I don't mind".

"Awesome," Fire Fist grins out. "We've got everything settled then right? We can relax? How about a party?"

"A party sounds awesome!" Luffy beams as he throws his hands in the air.

"Wait!" A small voice suddenly speaks up, and my eyes fall onto the...Rac- No wait, he's a reindeer. A really really small reindeer. Anyways, my eyes fall onto him. He approaches me very carefully, and holds out a hoof with a stern look in his little eyes. I raise a brow, and slowly reach forward to shake it, my clawed hand easily curling around his tiny hoof. "Your Captain was the doctor who saved Luffy's life, wasn't he?" I nod. He's also the one who gave me his blood. "Thank you! If I had been there, at my level back then, I don't think I would have been able to save him. Please, pass on my gratitude!"

I blink dumbly and am silent for a moment before smiling, "I'll do that".

"LET'S PARTY!" Two voices intone, and my head whips around to find Ace and Luffy coming out of a room- the kitchen?- each with a barrel under their arms and tankards hooked on their fingers. The drinks are swiftly passed around, and soon enough all sorts of excitement is going on. Luffy and Chopper end up dong some sort of dance with...Chop sticks in their noses and forcing open their jaws. Brook has decided that now was a good time to start playing some sort of guitar. Robin, I think she's just enjoying the festivities as she's found a book to read and a chair to relax in. Frankie by now has joined in on the dancing, and Usopp is laughing his fool head off. Zoro and Nami are having a drinking competition with one another, cheeks flushed but no sign of them passing out. And what's Ace doing? Juggling fire balls and entertaining a no longer dancing trio.

As for me...Well first off this is some really strong rum. But I've yet to be effected by it via my metabolism burning through the alcohol like fire does a dry forest. Tankard in hand, I decide to go find the empty room that Ace and I will be sharing. It's not so hard to do, what with the rooms being obviously lived in despite dust save one. That's our room. I head on in and close the door before settling down on the bed and setting my drink down. Then, I pull out the one thing that's been with me through all this nonsense. Just sitting there and waiting for the right time to be used. I look at the transponder snail, admittingly happy to see the familiar and miniature sized hat on its body. Now's a better time than never to finally report to my Captain.

"Beda beda beda," the snail rings over and over again, "Beda beda beda. Beda beda beda. Beda beda bed- Cacha".

And then there's a voice that I haven't heard in over a year, "Creed-ya". For whatever reason, I feel my pulse quicken for a mere second. Probably because I haven't heard my captain's voice in a while. And as my captain, he _is _rather important to me. Is he holding my heart or something? Because it's rather warm.

"Captain," I smile into the mic and at the snail which I'm sure is mimicking me. "It's nice to hear from you again". I can hear voices in the background. Very familiar voices. "Are you in the mess hall or something?"

Silence and then, "Yes. We're eating lunch," he tells me.

"Is that Creed?!" I hear a familiar voice call out, "Guys shut up! Creed's on the snail!" Thanks Penguin. _Thanks_.

"Creed?! Our lovely Creed is still alive!" I hear Shachi cheer, "How are you?! What have you been up to?! Everything's been so boring here since you left and the food tastes like shit!"

"Fuck you Shachi!" I hear at a distance and I can't help but laugh.

"Of course I'm still alive," I laugh out, "I'm doing fine though. For the most part I've been training with Luffy and Ace".

"Training?" Penguin wonders, "You mean you're stronger now? That's awesome! What can you do now?"

"You'll have to wait and find out," I tease. "Can I talk to Law now?"

"Hell no you can't," a low voice speaks up with a chuckle. "We haven't heard from you in eighteen months and all you can think about is reporting to the Captain? How rude".

"You're offended, Syn?" I beam, "Good. Give me back to Law".

There's a scoffing sound from the navigator, "Like hell. So I hear that you've been training with just two guys? Both of them better of not touched you; I'll beat the shit out of them if they did".

"Oh shut it, both of them are my and Law's level. You couldn't even lay a hand on Lyst last I checked".

"Yea, well, I got better," he sneers. "Straw Hat and Fire Fist are that strong eh?"

"Hell yea," I grin. "You lot would love them. They're great people".

There's the sound of scuffling and 'give me the damn snail!' a couple times before finally my snail makes an alert face, "That sounded like fondness," Lyst states. "You better not be thinking of staying there. You hear me?" His voice has gotten deeper, that's for sure. And is he hotter tempered than before?

"So commanding," I sigh out. "You in a bad mood or something Lyst?" I ponder to him.

"He's been in a bad mood ever since you left, girlie!" Syn calls out from the background. This makes me raise a brow in curiousness.

"Lyst, you've been an ass for eighteen months? What the hell is that nonsense?" I demand, not pleased but also not really surprised.

"These guys are annoying," Lyst growls out. "Constantly demanding food or that I come and drink with them. I'm not you but they act like I am".

"No, they act like they would when I was around," I roll my eyes, "They weren't asking you to drink with them too when I was around so you could just tag along. Calm down, man".

"No".

"Ugh," I sigh. "Hey guys," I call to those who can hear me, "He's nineteen right? Has he gotten laid yet?" I've heard that hormones in a young man can make them pissy like a bitch on her period.

"What the hell kind of question is that?!" Lyst demands.

"He hasn't gotten laid at all Creed," I hear Penguin state.

"Yea! The ladies are coming to him like honey and flies but all he does is give them the cold shoulder," Shachi agrees.

I sigh, "Lyst, go get laid will ya? Maybe that'll calm ya down".

"I don't need sex god damn it!" He persists.

"Don't need sex? Please, you can't say that until you've felt how good it feels!" Syn laughs out.

"Ugh! Captain, would you please say something?" I can imagine the now grown man looking to a probably calmly smiling Law. Ahh man how I miss them! Just being on the other line of a den den mushi isn't nearly enough.

I hear the cool chuckle of my Captain's voice, "Listen to your crew members, Lyst-ya". And cue the grumbling as someone else takes the speaker. I find out who it is as I hear Law's voice louder this time, "What's your report? Where are you?"

"Well," I pause as I hear yelling and rumbling, and I can't help but wonder just what the hell is going on out there. "Well," I try again, "The Straw Hats only reunited about an hour or so ago but we're getting pretty far fairly fast. We're approaching Fishman Island. There'll probably be a detour there since they keep on going on about Camie and some starfish named Papaug. If nothing else, we'll probably stay there for a few days just so the pose sets and then we'll set out to the new world".

"Where do they stand in our plans?" He questions.

"I can assure you that Luffy would definitely go for it. He's the kind of guy who will help anyone he likes. And since you saved his life and I saved Ace...There's a pretty good chance that we've got the Straw Hats as allies. However, I haven't seen them all in action. Luffy is about your strength, and I can assure you Ace is about the same level if not stronger. I want to see how strong the others are before actually reporting to you that they'd definitely be good allies to have. Is that okay with you?"

There's silence and then, "Yes". I hear footsteps rather close to the mic and figure that he's walking somewhere. Where, I haven't a clue.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go see why there's a ruckus going on deck," I make to hang up when his voice stops me.

"Wait, Creed-ya," Law demands smoothly, the sound of a door opening and then closing, and then the faint sound of him sitting down again. I'm guessing he went to his room. "You will come back to me soon. Understood?"

My eyes widen as I feel his hand holding my heart, and then there's a feeling that makes my pulse race for a second. I don't know what he did, but it felt really good. "Of course I'm coming back to the crew. That sub is my real home after all, even if I haven't spent a lot of time on it compared to the amount of time I've spent with Ace and Luffy". There's a sudden jolt of pain that runs through my body, and I gasp from such a sensation. It feels like he's squeezing my heart lightly. Mother fucker that hurts!

Law's tone is deadly, "Not just the sub, Creed-ya, _me_".

"Okay okay," I pant harshly, brows furrowed and free hand gripping at my shirt, "I got ya. I won't just come back to the sub".

"I want to _hear_ it, Creed-ya. Tell me you'll come back to me".

What am I, some kind of dog? I'm a fox at the very least damn it! Gah! Mother fucker! "I'll-" son of a bitch, "I'll come back to you, Captain. Happy?" I feel the grip on my heart loosen, and then that pleasurable feeling comes back for a second. I feel a bit sick; I can't decide on whether to be pissed at him or pleased with him via the pain or the pleasure.

"Say it again," he demands. "This time say my name".

I sigh. Why's he so insistent? Why's demanding I say his name when I say it all the time? I sigh, and grunt as pain and then pleasure confuses my body. I sigh again before telling him, "I'll come back to you, Law, I promise". Why the hell did I promise? No wait, why the hell was my voice gentle?! I growl at myself, not pleased with the confusion. Like I need more at the moment.

"Good girl," Law states smoothly.

"I'll talk to you later. I've got to go," I tell him, getting a 'goodbye' from my true Captain and hang up. I leave the room, opening the door, only to find a pink cheeked Ace standing in the doorway, leaning on it as though he had been listening. "Ace?" Why didn't I sense him with my Kenbunshoku? Was I too distracted?

"Done talking to your lover?" He states lightly as he pushes off from the door frame and begins to walk forward, following me as I walk backwards.

I raise a brow, "What lover?"

"The one you were cooing to," damn it he heard that, "Trafalgar Law, Surgeon of Death, Warlord, former Super Nova".

"I wasn't cooing to him, Ace," I insist. At least I didn't mean to. I find myself against a wall of our shared room.

He doesn't stop coming closer until he's about half a foot away. "Then what were you doing?"

"I was telling him where I stood on my mission, as well as catching up a bit. That's all," I explain. "Law's not my lover, he's my Captain. Nothing more, nothing less".

Ace's hazed over eyes narrow slightly, "Good," he breathes out. "That would be a problem".

"Eh? Why?" I question as he comes closer, and I press my form further against the wall. What's he think he's doing? "Get out of my personal space, Ace," I demand.

"Sorry, is this too close?" He questions, a quarter of a foot away. "How about this?" He's now inches away, and as I ready to side step out of the way, an arm shoots up and blocks my path. I try going the other way, not really liking this situation at all, but that's blocked by his other arm. "What about this?" He brings himself so that he's maybe two inches away from my own face, alcohol on his breath wafting over me.

"All of it's too close, Ace. Now move one of your arms before I burn you," I tell him sternly. My brows rest furrowed on my face while my lips are turned into a sharp frown.

"You can't burn me, I'm made of fire," he assures. "I just want to see what's too close is all".

"Well you've figured it out," I snap lightly, "Now please move," I request.

"I like it here," he tells me.

"Too bad, move," I press my hands against his chest and push, but he doesn't budge a single centimeter.

"What if I don't want to?" Ace questions, pressing closer despite my pushing to the point where are chests are touching. "What if I want to be as close as possible to you?"

"Then you're drunk. Sober Ace respects personal space," I growl out.

"Sober Ace wishes he didn't," Ace places his forehead against mine, meeting my ember gaze with those dark orbs. "Sober Ace wishes Creed would see how he feels for her," he continues. "Sober Ace doesn't know how to approach Creed because of his feelings, and he knows that Creed won't leave her crew just for him. Sober Ace wants to many things that only Drunk Ace is brave enough to try and get".

My brows are furrowed. He's talking like Sober Ace is a different person completely from how he is now. In a way he's right, but he's saying stuff that I don't think is true; he's just spewing stuff. When's the last time he got laid? "What is it that Sober Ace wants?" I question, deciding to play along for now.

Fire Fist is silent for a moment before he finally speaks, "Sober Ace wants to kiss you. To hold you. To protect you like he's never protected anyone before. He wants you to be his and only his. He wants you to join his new crew, where he can always be near you and know you're safe".

My eyes are wide as Ace speaks smoothly and unwaveringly. "Why?" Why does he want me? He can have anyone else. Robin would probably be a better match for him damn it!

"You were nothing but a stranger when you saved Luffy and I at the risk of your own life and against your Captain's orders. That was very interesting, I wanted to get to know you. And when you woke up and I saw you in person, as a human instead of a giant fox, I saw you as beautiful. So I gave you a den den mushi; I didn't want you to forget about me. Six months later, you came and we trained together. We became friends, learned each others' pasts. I fell in love with a perfect woman. A woman who is strong, fiery, beautiful, everything I ever wanted. And yet you are loyal to your Captain. I want you because I love you," he explains. Before I get a chance to tell him how I feel, he brings his lips to mine in a kiss that I've never felt before. It was nothing like the disgusting ones I had with Hanzai. No. this is sweet and yearning and gentle; coaxing. My heart flutters in my chest as he kisses me, my form frozen in shock. This guy, whom has quickly become a rather good friend of mine in the time I've known him, is kissing me. Telling me that he loves me of all things. My pulse is the through the roof, and I'm sure my heart is having an attack where ever it's sitting in Law's room.

"Beda beda beda," the snail rings over and over again, "Beda beda beda. Beda beda beda. Beda beda beda. Beda beda. Beda beda. Beda beda beda. Beda beda".

I tear my lips from Ace's own, a tingling sensation on them and a thrill constantly running up and down my back. He doesn't let me move though as I try to get to where I had put down the den den mushi, a hand pressing my shoulder to the wall. His lips trail along my chin and then to my neck where my eyes widen. Damn that feels good. "A-Ace," I manage, "Ace, I need to answer the den den mushi. My Captain is calling me".

"Ignore him in favor for me like you did at Marineford," Ace mumbles against my neck, his lips brushing against the skin as he speaks. "We're busy right now".

"No, Ace, you're busy. In fact, stop," he does as told. But as I slip from his hold I can tell that he's not at all happy, hazed over eyes- not as hazed over as earlier- glaring at the innocent snail.

"Beda beda beda. Beda be-Cacha".

"Hello?" I intone, trying to slow down my heart even though I can't feel it in my chest.

It's Law. "Why is your heart beating so fast? You're not fighting, you answered the den den mushi".

"I had a nightmare," I tell him.

"You're a horrible liar, Creed-ya. I'll re-word my question: Who is making your heart beat so fast?"

Before I can open my mouth and insist that I had a nightmare, a large hand takes the mic from me. Ace stands behind me and promptly wraps an arm around my waist before pulling us both to the bed, making me sit on his lap. "What's it to you?" Ace demands with his left brow raised.

"I'm her Captain; for her to lie to me is wrong and deserves punishment. However, that will be taken care of once she's come home to me. Why are you making my subordinate's heart flutter, Fire Fist Portgas D. Ace?" Shit.

"Ace, give me back the mic," I demand from on his lap and reach for it, only for him to swiftly grab my arm with his free hand and pin it to my side as he continues to use the corresponding arm to hold me to him. "Law, he's not doing anything. Don't worry about it".

"I was making out with her until you decided to interrupt us," Ace bluntly says, making me pale. What the shit, Ace?! "Do you have a problem with that?"

Silence. And then, "Yes. Creed-ya is mine; I have her heart. And she will be returning to me as soon as her mission is over. I will not have her in a relationship with someone from a different crew even if the Straw Hats are possible allies".

"She's not something to own. You stole her heart; she didn't give it to you," Ace snaps out. It seems the anger is helping him burn through the rum in his system.

"She did not give it to you either, Fire Fist-ya," Law throws back and I groan. "I implore that you release her at once".

"I don't think I will," Ace snaps. He lowers his head and kisses at my neck, right at the nape, making me gasp. Just when I had my heart under control it jumps again. However that pleasure is followed up with pain that makes me cry out and gasp. He's squeezing my heart. And rather unforgivably might I add. "Creed! Trafalgar! What are you doing to her?"

"I'm merely punishing her for letting you do as you please," Law states coolly. "Creed is coming back to me; I will not have you interfere with what is mine".

"L-Law," I gasp out, hand over the square hole in my chest, "Law...Plea-gah-...Please. Stop. It hurts!" I've never felt pain like this. Never. The saying 'my heart is in the palm of his hand' is literal. And he's being none too gentle with it.

"You're coming back to me," Law states lowly. "Understood? You already said you were moments ago, but now you have a man who will tempt you to go against your word. I'll not have that". Ahhhhh! Damn it that hurt! "Swear to me, on the safety of your heart, that you'll come back to me no matter how many times Fire Fist tries to take you from me".

"I- Son of a fucking bitch!- I promise!" By now, I'm pressing my form against Ace as hard as I can, hoping to find some sort of comfort.

"What do you promise, Creed-ya?"

"I promise that no matter how much Ace tempts me, I'll come back to you!" I pant as the pain, as sudden as it had come, suddenly leaves. However I continue to hold onto the fire man whose lap I sit on. My skin is covered in a cold layer of sweat from the pain.

"Good girl," Law states, "Anything else?"

"You're an ass," Ace growls out, "I'll kill you for hurting her like that".

"Not you, Fire Fist-ya," Law sighs out, "Creed-ya".

"I didn't kiss him back," I tell him. "He kissed me".

"I figured. And you know I didn't want to do that; you didn't deserve it. For that, I'm sorry. However, Fire Fist-ya did deserve it, and you were the only one who could get to him," Law states. No longer does his voice hold that cold malice from moments before. "Will you forgive me? Not as your Captain, but as a friend?"

Talk about a complete 360. I sigh, "I forgive you, Law. You know I do". How can I not. I've only known him for six months. But the amount of time we spent together is practically the equivalent to a year and a half.

"...Thank you," and then he hangs up.

I sigh and slide off of Ace's lap. Or, at least I try to. Ace still has a hold of me, "Ace. I can tell you're sober now. Your eyes are fully focused. Let go".

"...Why did you forgive him? Do you love him?"

I raise a brow before laughing lightly, "Hell no," I laugh. "I don't love him. He's just a good friend. One of the first I've had in nine years. I feel the same way for him as I do you. I don't love you, not in the sense you want me to but as a friend".

Ace sighs and wraps both arms around me, crushing me to him for the umpteenth time, "I'm sorry I started all that. I should have never thought that he had no leverage on me". He sighs and rests his chin on my shoulder as I hug him back. "I hope you know that although I was drunk during most of that, my words were true. I do love you. And I'm not giving up on you. Not until you choose someone else that's not me. Not until you can love someone else, show me that you love them, and then tell me what you just did".

"You're just as stubborn as your brother," I sigh out but smile. I'm flattered that this guy wants my heart in the emotional sense where as Law just wants to make sure I don't betray him. Not that I would. "Ace, why don't you go to sleep?" No answer. "Ace?" No answer. And then...Snoring. I sigh. "Of course you'd fall asleep, you big lug". His grip is still tight on me, just like the night before. I have no choice but to let him cuddle up to me.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Fish-people...Fish-people Everywhere **

"So...Now what?" I sigh as we walk the streets of Fishman Island. At my side of course is Ace. All morning he's been sticking close to me, and not just because we've been separated from the others. This morning, what I woke up to was not only surprising, but also confusing. How the hell could I have slept through the whole thing? I don't know how or when we got through the first layer of bubble protecting Fishman Island, but we did. The result was the lot of us getting separated from one another. However I'm not worried at all. Ace and I woke up on the Sunny Go, and we headed out from there. And that's why we're walking the streets. Just moments before, I had decided to see where everyone was via my Kenbunshoku Haki, which as it turns out has a massive range. Luffy, Chopper, Usopp and Sanji are all in the same place. But for some odd reason, Sanji's not doing so good.

Ace shrugs his broad shoulders lightly, hands stuffed in his pockets, "I guess we should just go ahead and find Luffy and the others. That'd probably be our best course of action". He's not that impressed by this place just as I'm not. It's pretty cool down here but, not all too different from any other island. The people are just a bit different is all. And Ace? Well I'm sure he's been here dozens of times; according to him White Beard used to be the protector of this place.

"Alright then," I shrug out, "Let's see where they are from here," I pause for no more than a second, "There they are, this way. They're on the move so we've gotta hurry".

"Where are they going?" Ace questions as I take off in the lead swiftly.

"I don't know," I tell him with a shake of my head. Down the streets, lefts and rights are taken like no tomorrow until I get tired of having to slow down and therefore take to the roof tops. Ace is hot on my tail up until I abruptly stop. Why did I stop so suddenly? Because there's a certain long nosed pirate that's much too slow to react to Ace and I heading straight for him. "Move Usopp!" The young man's head whips in my direction and just as he moves out of the way, Ace slams into my back sending us rolling into a sprawl. I groan as I end up on the bottom of our sprawled pile of two. My eyes open up to see Ace over me and face in my own. "Nice stop. Ya goof," I tease lightly. On my mind is the night before, however I refuse to let it get to me. Why should it? I don't feel the same way for him as he does me. Luckily, I manage to keep my pulse at a steady rate. Ace chuckles as he looks down at me, but doesn't move from his spot as I push against his chest. Before I can react, he lowers his lips to mine and steals a kiss that's only held long enough for me to realize what's going on. And before I can smack the back of his head, he gets up and brings me along with him. I blanch. He's really serious about this teaching me to love him thing, isn't he?

"Woah there kiddies!" A booming voice calls from up high, making me crane my neck only to see a man with a crown and a smile on his happy face. Well, by the look in his eyes he seems happy. On a whale with a crown of its own and a bubble around it's back fin to help it be in the air, he sits proudly as he looks down at us. "Well I'll be damned! Fire Fist Ace!" He laughs out, "It's good to see a familiar face in a long while!"

Ace smiles at the man, "It's good to see you too, King Neptune". That guy's Neptune?! "To what do we owe the pleasure of seeing you?"

"I'd like to invite your new Captain and the rest of his crew to stay at my castle!" The large merman states grandly. "I personally invite you!"

"Woah!" Luffy grins out. "Really?!"

"Really," Neptune laughs out. "Please! Come, come!" His attention turns to me, "I don't think I've heard of you being part of the Straw Hat crew, miss".

"I'm just a friend tagging along until I get back to my own crew, your highness," I grin out to him, "My name is Kakusare Creed. It's a pleasure to meet you".

"The pleasure's all mine," he assures as we climb onto the large shark that's apparently known as Megalo. "Besides, any lover of Ace's is a friend of mine.

I stumble as I attempt to climb onto Megalo by scaling his side when Neptune calls me Ace's lover, "A-ahh...We're not dating," I assure him. "That thing you saw was just a fluke". I see Ace's face fall as I finally make it to the top, and then a look of determination. Damn him for being stubborn! None the less, the ride to Ryugu Palace doesn't take that long to begin with, and it's by the time we make it there that I am amused by Luffy's amazement due to the palace. He's so easily amused. But I have to admit that it indeed is a beautiful place. With its bright coloring of corals and fish scale tones, it's unlike any palace I'd ever seen. Not that I've really seen a lot in my years. Still, it's beautiful, and massively large meant for a King Neptune's size.

Upon entering, we're greeted by the sight of Neptune's throne room, a simple room filled with pillars and two thrones; one for himself and the other for his MIA Queen. However, it turned out that the Queen, Otohime, was not MIA, but rather killed years ago. A sad story indeed. However, we are given leave to explore as we please.

The result is, "Luffy! There's no food in this direction damn you!" I call, following the Straw Hat Captain through the hallways. "Stop following your nose! It's lying to you!"

"No really! There is food here!" Luffy calls back with a childish stomp. "Come on Creed! You're hungry too aren't ya?" That's not the point here.

"That's not the point," Ace sighs as he follows after Luffy at my side. Of course, why would he leave me be when he's in love with me? I mentally sigh at that. Stupid drama. "The point is that we should have stuck with the others. Luffy!"

"Aww, come on Ace! I'm just hungry is all!" Luffy insists, finally stopping. However, he's not stopped because he's found the food, but because he's found a massive set of metal doors. Imbedded into these doors are weapons, and the same thing goes for around the door as well. Luffy looks back to the door before the three of us and tilts his head, mumbling something about food being behind the door. And so, he carelessly opens it without an issue despite its size. "Man, it's so dark in here," he whines. From where I stand I can see that there's all sorts of dark shadows, the biggest one being in the middle of the room. It almost looks human, but I could be wrong. There's no giants down here, only large mermaids and mermen. And why would a mermaid be in a food storage room and yet not say anything upon our arrival?

I sigh, "I got it," and raise my hand to allow a large ball of white fire to form in the palm of my hand. From there, I toss it up, and allow it to grow as to give off more light. But by the time I'm lighting up the room, Luffy's already exploring and jumping on something. "Luffy, get off of that!" My eyes widen as I realize just what the large figure is. It- she- is indeed a mermaid! A huge one at that- at least the size of Neptune if not a bit smaller. "That's not coral or pudding you dumb ass!"

"Hah?" He turns and looks back to me, stopping his bouncing, "What do you mean it's not pudding or coral?"

Ace literally sends a hand to palm his face with a sigh, "Luffy, listen to me carefully. That's-"

"Is anyone there?" A gentle voice questions. Ahh shit. She's awake. A light from above turns on, and I let the ball of fire die out immediately as the girl sits up with a rub of her eye. She must have been sleeping, seeing as this seems to be her bedroom. But why the hell would there be weapons imbedded in and around the door? With a surprised scream, Luffy falls off of the mermaid's boob, and promptly lands next to her tail as she looks down at him. She's beautiful just like any other mermaid. With a short shirt that stops half way between her belly button and her breasts. Straps rest around her neck, and somehow there's a small vale that floats behind her as though in water. Her hair is long and pink, two strands being held up by a hair piece in two tall loops. Her eyes are blue. Like any other mermaid, she has a tail which is two types of pink, stripes alternating between colors going down her tail gracefully.

His eyes are wide in amazement, "What a huge person- I mean, mermaid!"

"Who...," ahh shit, her eyes are teary, "Who are you?!...You've come to kill me haven't you?" Eh? "Well you know what? I'm not afraid!" She tries to hold back tears that begin to fall. "Because...Because I'm the daughter of Neptune, Shirahoshi! I'm not afraid of...Wahhhh! Father-sama! Brother-sama!"

Triple shit. Trying to calm her down, I rush forward with my hands in front of me and open to show that we mean no harm. "Woah woah woah! Hime! Please don't cry! We don't mean any harm towards you!" She looks down at me, and only cries harder. Am I that scary?

"Hey!" Ace takes a shot at it, "We didn't do anything to you, did we?" Okay, so Luffy bounced on her boob like it was some sort of trampoline, but that was a fluke. He didn't know any better. Still, even Ace's try does no good.

My brows furrow as my mind's eye tells me of an ax coming for this room rapidly, and headed right for the mermaid princess who is currently still crying. "Luffy!" I cry out, only to find that he's seen the same as I. And, as predicted, the ax flies through the open doors of the room. Luckily however, Luffy acts on time and deflects the weapon with ease, surprising the girl.

"You...You saved me?" She questions him.

"Of course he did," I assure, "He's not a bad guy or anything. Neither are Ace or I".

"Th...Thank you! I thought I was a goner! That happens all the time, weapons coming for me!," she begins to tear up.

"Calm down...Why does that happen?" Ace questions soothingly.

Shirahoshi sniffles, seeming to honestly do her best in holding back her tears. "When I was younger, and when I was allowed out of this tower, I had gone exploring one day. On that day, I met a man named Vander Decken IX, and we got to know one another. However, when he told me he loved me, I rejected him. He wasn't my type! So he cursed me with his right hand! Anything he touches with his right hand will become a target for anything he throws! And the curse isn't lifted until the target is dead or touched with that same hand!" And once more, tears begin to fall.

"Hah? What's that sound?" Luffy wonders over the girl's crying, and said girl stops her nonsense. This allows Ace and I to hear the sound as well. Battle cries?

"Oh no!" The girl gasps as she looks down at us with tear brimming orbs. "I'm sorry to do this to you!" She reaches forward and grabs Luffy, who struggles to get out of the hold but is forced behind the girl's back. Her other hand grabs Ace and I, squishing us together and also hiding us behind her back.

"Hime-sama!" We hear, "Hime-sama! Are you alright?"

"O-oh! I'm fine; there's nothing wrong!" The girl stammers to the person- or mer-person- quickly. I glare in Luffy's direction as he fights to have his mouth uncovered, managing to do so only for a second long enough to make a noise.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yes! I just had a bad dream is all!" She assures, again covering up Luffy's mouth.

"I was sure I heard a noise," the person states.

The girl's hands by now are sweaty, and it's not fun to be in. If they don't go soon, she's gonna slip up. "T-that was my stomach. I'm a bit hungry you see!"

"Ahh. Well, I'll have food brought to you as soon as possible," the man states. There's a familiar sound of 'sha sha' which I remember to be the sound the shark Megalo makes.

"Megalo! Welcome home!" Quickly and smoothly as she can, she puts Ace and I down in order to, I assume, make things seem normal and pet the obviously happy sounding shark.

"Ahh, that reminds me. There's something I must tell you about the Straw Hat Pirates," the man states. "They, along with Kyubbi no Kitsune Creed, and their Captain Straw Hat Luffy are suspected of the kidnappings of multiple mermaids this afternoon. That along with Shyarly's prediction of him destroying the island, we have detained most of the members of his crew. The first mate, who came here first and slept due to intoxication, is currently in the holding cell. Three others that arrived with Straw Hat are now tied up and detained. Those who are here that are missing are Kyuubi no Kitsune Creed, Fire Fist Ace, and Straw Hat himself. That is, of those within the palace. If you see any sign of any of them, please call for us right away".

"I-I will!" She assures him, making my eyes narrow. She better not.

"Very good. I will have food brought here as soon as possible". That said, the man and the small army he sounds to have brought with him leaves the room. Minutes later, a feast is brought into the room. It's not until that's done that Shirahoshi releases Luffy.

"I'm sorry I had to do that," she tells us gently as Ace and I walk around her large form and climb upon her tail. "You saved me; I didn't want you to get into trouble," she explains. "Are you hungry?" She asks the boy. Stupid question hun. "Please, have all you want!"

Luffy openly drools, a wide grin spread across his face, "Really?"

"Go ahead!" She assures. She looks to Ace and I, "You two as well if you want".

I grin myself, showing a set of fangs and make my way to where Luffy is before setting to eat myself. "Damn this stuff is good!" Luffy agrees as he eats away on bread first. I go straight for the meat that they've got here. "Ace, you should try some of this stuff!"

"That's okay. Eat some for me," Ace assures with a raised hand.

I glare his way, "You didn't eat dinner last night. You're eating now," I point at him dangerously. I don't know what Luffy and Shirahoshi are going on about. But I can say from tidbits that she's talking about that Vander Decken guy that she mentioned before.

Ace stands his ground, "You can't make me".

"Since when do you turn down food damn it?!" I snap.

"Hangovers make me lose my appetite," he states simply. "You won't make me eat tonight.

I growl, "It's only gonna get worse if you don't have anything to help absorb what alcohol is left in your system, dumb ass. It doesn't help that you didn't have any water either. Come eat. It's either on your own terms, or it's through me stuffing this stuff down your throat".

"You're gonna feed me?" He grins out with a raised and teasing brow.

"Force feed ya," I grumble, grabbing a chunk of bread that Luffy hasn't eaten yet and taking it with me. "Come 'ere".

"I don't think I will," Ace states, getting up from his relaxed position. There's a broad grin on his person.

"Fuck you," I growl out. Once I'm close enough, I launch myself at his person, slamming our bodies together and causing an epic tussle. Roll left, try to shove bread in his mouth, only to be tossed into some jello. Tackle again, and fall off the table with a heavy thud. Roll this way and that, under the bed some how over the bed and back onto the table. For the next half hour, we're duking it out simply because I want him to eat and he doesn't wanna. However, we're stopped by the sound of choking. What we look to see is poor Megola having Shirahoshi of all beings shoved into his mouth forcefully. Poor thing! "Luffy! What the hell are you doing?!" I exclaim from my current position of straddling Ace's torso and trying to shove food into his closed mouth.

Luffy looks to me, "The coward wants to go outside! But since she'll cause a commotion, so the shark is gonna hide her in his mouth until we get to this forest she wants to go to!"

"What? Luffy, that'll never work!" Ace exclaims, only to have bread shoved into his open mouth. He chokes himself, and forces himself to swallow before coughing and glaring at me. "Seriously? I could have died!"

"Feh!" I scoff out, "As if you'd choke". My eyes turn to Shirahoshi- whom looks to be rather excited. I sigh, "We're going with you. If it's just you, things are bound to go wrong. Come on Ace," I tell him as I jump my way from the table onto Megola.

"Yea yea," Ace sighs, joining Luffy and I shortly after words.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter: Finally! Some Action To Cut Loose!**

Getting out of the castle is easy as all hell, and soon enough we find ourselves traveling over Coral Hill, where we find Sanji, Hatchin and Chopper to be. Luffy, wanting to see them and have them come with us- as should be, directs Megalo down to the land where he jumps off. It is there that as predicted something goes wrong. Not only are we accused as mermaid kidnappers as is suspected, but we're also tied up and held by various citizens who then begin to think on what they should do with us. Most of them want to take us back to the Palace and let Neptune take care of us as he pleases. He'll be really pissed to find Shirahoshi out of her tower.

However, it is the man named Vander Decken that ends up saving our asses, distracting the lot of them in his attempt to kill Shirahoshi through love. Asshole. Long story short, Luffy got rid of Vander Decken for a bit by simply taking him down, wrapping his legs around him and putting him in his place. Of course, Sanji and Chopper come with us in our escape. It's not until later, that things start to really get interesting. Why? Because one, we get to see Jimbe again. Two, we find the Sunny Go and Franky, as well as someone who's willing to recoat the ship with a bubble so that we can resurface again. And three, we learn about Shirahoshi's mother, Otohime, whose grave lays here in the Sea Forest.

In the past, she was one of the two people who took a stand against the discrimination towards fishmen, the other being Fisher Tiger. While Tiger believed that fishmen and humans should remain separate, Otohime wished for the coexistence of the two races.  
During her time, she would descend to the island to preach to the people about forming a bond with humans. She would also ask the citizens to sign a petition to promote co-existence. When finished, she returned to the palace to be met with a warm greeting from her children.  
When Tiger had a meeting with the royal family after what seemed to be an adventure, Neptune asked Tiger about what he saw during his adventures. Tiger answered with one word, "humans". Otohime then began shedding tears. After news of Tiger's rampage in Mariejois reached the palace, Otohime told Neptune about the voice she heard from his heart, a voice raising a battle cry. While the Sun Pirates were roaming the Grand Line, Otohime continued asking for signatures only to be met with refusal.

After Tiger's death, Otohime became more determined than ever. She continued preaching to her people only to be shunned. Day after day, Otohime rescued humans from shipwrecks, teaching the children of Fishman Island about the surface world, giving speeches in the streets, and asking for signatures.

After five years, she managed to get a thousand signatures. However, over time, the people withdrew their signatures until there were none. One day, while intoxicated, she gave a heart-wrenching speech to the Fishman Island citizens through a broadcast radio.

After the Sun Pirates split into three factions, a giant wrecked ship carrying World Nobles arrived at the Fishman Island main entrance and the ship was in need of an emergency entrance. Otohime then rushed to the scene.

She arrived just in time to keep some of the Sun Pirates from killing a World Noble named Mjosgard, who also happened to be their former owner. She saved the noble from a fired bullet, getting grazed in the arm in the process. When asked why she protected him, Otohime pointed out that the children are watching and while she understands how they felt, they shouldn't pass on their hatred for humans to the children. This managed to calm the crowd, but Mjosgard grabbed her and threatened to shoot her. Otohime was saved when her daughter, Shirahoshi, called out to her and cried, unknowingly summoning Sea Kings to the area, which causes Mjosgard to faint from shock. Otohime and everyone else present were stunned by this revelation. Regardless of the noble's action, she asked Aladdin to heal him.

Some weeks later, Mjosgard was healed and allowed to leave Otohime decided to go with him much to the shock and disapproval of her subjects and family. She asked them to trust her and humanity, which everyone reluctantly complied with. After one week, she returned to the island having somehow negotiated with the World Nobles and holding a paper said to be "The Hope of Fishman Island".  
From the day she began her campaign to the day she returned with the World Nobles' support, it has been seven years of hard work, and Otohime has finally reached out the island and all the citizens start giving their signatures on her request. Otohime was deeply overjoyed. Back at Ryugu Palace, Otohime explained to her sons about Shirahoshi's ability which is related to a legend. Otohime told her sons to be strong warriors and protect Shirahoshi.  
One day in Gyoncorde Plaza, the box holding all the collected signatures suddenly caught fire. In the ensuing confusion, Otohime was shot. As she fell to the ground, her sons immediately came to her side. Fukaboshi swore revenge, but Otohime told him not to be angry for her. Otohime reminded her sons about their promise to protect Shirahoshi. As she passed away, she touched pinky fingers with her children for the last time. Her daylight assassination led to an uproar throughout Fishman Island.  
Shortly after the assassination, Hody Jones caught and killed a human pirate. Hody claimed that the pirate was the shooter and revealed it to the citizens despite Jinbe's request to keep it quiet to preserve Otohime's hard work. This demoralized the citizens' desire to integrate their society with humans, but during Otohime's funeral, her children mustered the strength to regain the citizens' confidence, and started to collect more signatures.

Even after death, her ideals lived on. She was given a burial in the Sea Forest. Her daughter missed her funeral due to being imprisoned in Hard-Shell Tower to protect her from Vander Decken IX. During her ten years in that tower, Shirahoshi desired to pay her respects, while she lived with the knowledge that there were so many unspoken words between them.

By the end of the story of Otohime, I can't help but be awed by the fact that the mermaid, whom was so frail yet so powerful, stood the way she did. It's women like her that do our gender proud, let alone whatever race they belong to. I look to a silently crying Shirahoshi as she gazes down at her mother's grave, and place a hand on her much much bigger one. "You had a wonderful mother, Hime," I tell the girl with a smile. "And she'd be very proud of you for being so brave for coming here just to see her".

Blue eyes filled with momentarily subdued tears shine at me in thanks, and a shaky smile appears on her lips, "Thank you, Creed-sama".

All good things eventually come to an end, however, as there's a call from Nami and the mermaid Kamie that I had seen two years ago at the auction house and fearing for her life. The news they bring is of the attack upon the Palace, as well as the capturing of King Neptune and the cornering of Zoro, Usopp and Brook. The former of the news brings tears of worry to Shirahoshi's being, and I can't help but try to calm her down by patting the top of her large hand and tell her that we'll save him.

"Hello, merfolk of Fishman Island," an unfamiliar voice sounds around us while a screen from a transponder snail appears those of us in the Sea Forest. I can only assume that seeing as this guy is addressing his people, they are watching this as well. "My name is Hody Jones, Captain of the New Fishman Pirates. My men and I have captured King Neptune, and he is no longer able to save you. This island has become tainted and wrong! Welcoming humans in all their inferiority to our home. What gives them the right to come here?!" He snarls at the snail, showing us sharp teeth that remind me of a shark; therefore he must be a shark fishman. "I will take over this island and rebuild it into the place it has always been meant to be! A place where no human is able to step their filthy foot onto our land! A place where it is illegal to speak so fondly of a weaker species. I have found the box with the signatures given to late Queen Otohime in agreement to her ideals! And it is with these, that I will take down each and every one of you who signed. At three o' clock this afternoon, an execution will occur; the execution of none other than King Neptune himself!" There's cheers in the background, and from what I can see the downed king is glaring at this Hody guy. A cool smirk spreads across his lips, a bit of his pointed teeth glinting in what light is available in the throne room. "And as for you Straw Hat Pirates, I have three of your men". Tied and hanging in a cage is the very trio that Nami and Kamie left behind: Zoro, Brook and Usopp. I purse my lips, "I'm going to drown them after the execution, and then I'm going to make an example of you to the surface dwellers! They'll see just how inferior they are to fishmen no matter what they do!" And with that, the screen disappears.

"Zoro! Brook! Usopp!" Luffy calls out, worried for his nakama. He looks to Den, a well respected ship coater that we had been introduced to by Franky earilier. "Old man! Can you get the Sunny Go back to that island?!"

"...I can," Den states, no longer wearing the smile that for a while I thought was permanent. "But it will take time. About an hour and a half".

"I can't wait that long! Father-sama! Come on Megola!" Shirahoshi exclaims to the shark who loyally does as he's told. Before anyone can do anything about it, the two are off and gone. Son of a bitch.

To say that the wait for the ship to be coated with a special bubble that will help us re-enter Fishman Island is long and grueling is an understatement. Especially since Ace decided to fall into a fit of narcolepsy and I can't wake him up for the fuck of it. I sigh as the whole time I'm pacing, not at all happy with the current situation. However, it seems my pacing kept me busy enough to be able to wait for the coating was done. And when it is, the only thing that I grab Ace by to drag him by is his leg. I don't even bother to figure out just how we get back onto Fishman Island. Not only am I pissed about all this bullshit- it's only been a day or two and yet here we are, dealing with some nonsense that had to happen with the Straw Hats and myself around. God. They really are magnets for trouble. None the less, as the ship readies to land, Ace decides to wake up.

"Huh? How'd we get back here?" He sleepily questions.

"Shut it and get ready to fight, you narcoleptic idiot," I scoff out, hands clenching and unclenching in an itch for battle. Can you tell that I haven't fought for too long? Maybe if I had stayed with Law I would have been more active...Constantly sparring Ace and Luffy has made me a fight-o-holic. Not only that, but it's not like I can use them as a release for my energy and annoyance. As the ship crashes onto the land below us, I see Shirahoshi crying- kind of hard to miss- and her form bound by thick chain to keep her from helping her father. Neptune is a bit a ways away, with what I guess Hody to be right in front of him. On the higher levels of the Plaza, I see normal fishmen and women looking down upon the army of pirate fishmen and now the Straw Hats and myself as well.

"Look! It's...," I hear a normal fishman call out over the silence around us.

Chopper, in one of his points that I don't know the name of- he's on all fours and actually looks like a deer though- walks forward to look over the railing of the Sunny Go. "Woah. Look at all those people!" Yes, and my body is itching to fight as many as I can!

Usopp joins the doctor at the railing, looking down, "Oh no! Are all those guys our enemies?! Scary!"

"I think so," Sanji stays where he is, calm as one of the monsters of the crew should be with a hand in the corresponding pocket and a cancer stick hanging from his lips. "Looks like there's about seventy or eighty thousand...No, one hundred thousand, all of them, maybe".

"Yohohoho! Sounds a bit tough!" Brook sing songs, but it's obvious that he's not at all worried in the slightest.

"You can take a nap or something if you want," Zoro smirks out, "I'll take care of them".

I sneer over my shoulder, not quite to the railing but not as far back as Zoro, Brook and Sanji. "Not if I can help it, Zoro". My sneer turns into an excited grin, my clawed hands still clenching and unclenching as they please, "Damn, look at me. Hanging around you guys has turned me into some sort of fighting monster".

Ace laughs from my side, an arm slung casually over my shoulders, "That's a good thing last I checked". He beams, "Means that you're confident and you're strong".

"I can't wait!" Franky cheers out from behind the lot of us, "Let's go wild, guys!"

And one by one, each of us jumps off the ship, walking coolly and calmly towards the army that dare separate us and the real threat behind them and their actions. Luffy walks at the head of us, head bowed and hands loosely clenched into determined fists. Calls of 'why did you occupy the palace' and 'are you really going to destroy the island' and 'do you want to kill the royal family too' go unanswered as we continue to walk. Or, they do remain unanswered until Luffy takes up the job of answering us. "Friend or foe...? That's something you gotta ask your own kind!" He gazes at those before him.

And so the battle begins. With a fang bearing grin and energy to spare, I'm pretty sure next to Luffy, Ace and the other two monsters of the crew, I'm the first to head into battle. Seeing as the boys have decided to attack with with some of their stronger attacks, I've decided to do the same. However I refuse to go all out simply for something like this. Well...It depends on how far I'm pushed. None the less, with Ace sending off his trade marked Hiken, I decide to let loose a favorite attack of mine that I haven't needed in a good while.

"She's only one woman!" The fishmen around me cheer to one another, "We can take her down easy! Go men! Go!"

"Oh, you are really coming into the fox's den, aren't you?" I coo lightly. Falling into a fighting stance, as the men come at me from across the distance between the two of us I wait. Wait...Wait...Now! My arms make a large scooping motion, almost as though trying to roll something large over. Fire lights the ground below and behind me, following the direction of my arms and hands. As my hands make it to about shoulder height, my fingers splay into claws, and the fire reaches the apex of the arc I've just made, I lash out arms swinging across my body to cross cut the air before me. White fire follows the motion again, and as my arms swing it flies forward, taking on the look of two fox heads heading for the group. "Kitsune no Kiba!" I grin out. I hear screams, and watch as people fall to my fire that easily kills them. I purse my lips for a moment. That's something I know Luffy wouldn't like knowing; me killing. It's one of the reasons why- a main one at that- I wouldn't fit on such a crew.

"She just took the out as though she were nothing!" I hear fishmen scream to my left. "Who the hell is she?! She's not even a Straw Hat!"

I approach this group to my left, and they stand their ground which makes me happy to be honest. "My name is Kakusare 'Kyubbi no Kitsune' Creed; chef of the Heart Pirates".

"Heart Pirates? They've already passed through here! What are you doing here?!" A green skinned fishman demands.

"Helping some friends is all~," I coo lightly. "Do me a favor and die, will you?" That said, with one foot dragging and the other planted in place, I draw a circle around myself by spinning on my planted foot in the form of a simple 360. White fire, after that, bursts around me like a tornado, furiously kicking up wind and burning any debree that dares to come in contact with it. I can't see my enemies, but that's okay; that's what Kenbunshoku Haki is for. With a jerking push forward of claw-splayed fingers, the tornado passes over my body, and rushes forward murderously. As the fishmen are sucked into the tornado, I hear screams of pain that is music to my ears. This is no ordinary fire tornado, however. Being that the fire is hot enough to roast skin, blisters are forced to pop open as soon as they're formed, and blood is spilled. When blood is spilled, the fire becomes a crimson color, cooling down. I like to call this, "Kitsune no Chimatsuri". I grin as the tornado dies down, coming to a stop on its own to show roasted bodies with popped blisters and dried blood.

"You're pretty good for a pretty woman truth be told," I hear a deep voice coo to me from behind me.

"I try," I turn to see who my newest opponent is with a grin that has yet to leave. I can hear cries of defeat and cries of attacks from my allies. However I can tell that they've become quite serious already with how forcefully stubborn each of their wills are. The man before me is the most human looking fishman I've seen in my life. With porcelain scales covering a semi-tall frame, he's on the muscular side. On his neck are gills, and his fingers I can see from here are webbed. There's a dorsal fin on his back, and his hair is black and choppy coming to an end at the nape of his neck. There's a braid in the back of his head that leads down to the backs of his knees- or it would if it weren't flung over his shoulder. He's got an elegant nose to go with that elegant looking facial build, high cheek bones and not too big nor too little eyes that are of the most vibrant blue I've ever seen in my life. The clothing he wears is simple, being of black and white theme- white button up short sleeved shirt and black pants. On his feet look to be heavy boots. "Mind if I ask what kind of fishman you are? The only way I can tell that you are one is because of the dorsal fin, the gills and the webbed fingers really. Never seen looks so subtle".

"I don't mind at all, truth be told," he answers. "I have some human blood in me, unknown to Hody Jones luckily, truth be told. That's why I look human to you. However, I assure you that I am as strong as any of the men going against your friends, truth be told". Ugh, that's gonna get annoying. "I am a killer whale fishman". Well okay then. The human side of him must down the features enough to make him look like a different kind of fishman. "May we begin?" He questions, pulling...Trench knives of all things, out and placing them on his webbed hands.

"Of course".

And so the dance commences. I can't help but be surprised at the speed he carries himself with, being on par if not a little bit lower than mine. However, the way he uses his trench knives is very weird, and it makes it slightly hard to predict what he's going to do. Instead of using them as knives should be used- slashing, stabbing- he's punching at me as though they were iron knuckles. I grunt as I bring up my two and a half inch claws on my right hand to block his blade. My leg has to be brought up in order to block his foot, and my free hand comes at his face, fire dancing on the claws. His own free hand lashes out to meet those claws. I smirk to his blank face and ready to let fire lick him to death, however suddenly I'm thrown back by some invisible force. I grunt as I crash into the ground, stopping with a skid. What the hell was that?! I feel that same invisible force hit me in the ribs, and then as I fly back, in the back to head back for this guy. As his hand raises up to lash out at me, my mind's eye sees what he's going to do and I only half half of a spit second to plant my foot and with a helping burst of fire push myself out of the way. I watch as his punching blade meets nothing, and as a large gash is left in the ground. My eyes widen and I blink at the emotionless fishman. Better not get hit by that.

I skid to a stop on two planted feet and rush the man before we fly into a fray of fists and feet. Claws clashing with trench knives, feet meeting forearms and shins for the both of us. This...Is a blast! I grin as I slash down at him with fire laced claws, only to block his trench knife with my other set of claws. The first set of claws meets its mark. However, what I don't expect to feel is skin as hard as iron. My eyes widen. Haki? Bosushoku Haki?

"Truth be told," the nameless man tells me, "I figure you that you thought you just came in contact with Bosushoku Haki. However that's not what it is. It's called Tekkai; a weaker form of Bosushoku". Why's he telling me this? "It's very strong". That it is.

"That just means that I'll have to try harder," I grin out happily. "Rrrraahhh!" A burst of hot fire erupts from my mouth like it would from a dragon's however an invisible force snaps my jaws closed and forces me to swallow my own fire; it doesn't hurt me, but that doesn't seem to be his goal. I gasp as in my distraction from having my jaws slammed shut by an invisible force gives him the opening to take first blood. I groan as a flurry of punches and slashes come at me like no tomorrow, knocking me back step after step after step. Until finally I stumble over a random downed fishman body and fall onto my back.

The killer whale fishman-human crouches as he places his blade to my throat, "You didn't try hard enough, truth be told" he tells me.

My mind's eye shows me the obvious action that he'll take, and I react quickly. My eyes don't leave his own as my right hand is used to snap my fingers. Without anything but that simple movement, a ball of white fire appears feet above the man's back and crashes into his form unforgivingly, "Kakushi Kasai," I growl out as I pull myself out of my own fire. The fire dies out, only to show a slightly burnt fishman. I quickly look my torso over, and find myself nicely cut in multiple places. I hear crashes from above, and my eyes widen at the sight I see. "...Is that the Noah that your boss is planning on destroying the island with?"

"...Yes it is," the nameless man tells me, "I think we should finish this with a final blow, truth be told". His eyes flash up to the ship that's slowly falling and then look back to me. "Agreed?"

"Agreed," I nod out before falling into a fighting stance. I sigh, "I'm gonna go all out for this last blow," I tell him.

"As am I, truth be told," he replies.

I let out a calming sigh, and fall from my fighting stance into a simple one to fully face the man. My hands rise and fall with my breathing, my eyes closed as I ready myself mentally for this form. It only takes a few breathes before I'm consumed by black, nonburning fire. It makes the ground below me cold, before suddenly turning white and scorching the earth into nothingness. So I like to be flashy, so what? The white fire around me leaps away from my now changed form in a large wave that burns everything in it's path. In this form, I'm quite different from what I normally look like. Replacing human legs, are black, fur covered vulpine legs, feet turned into paws- white fire around the ankles- and fur nice and thick as to cover my groin. My claws have grown an inch longer, and behind me nine black tails with a ring of white fire around each end waves behind me. Replacing human ears is a pair of black vulpine ears, their tips dancing with white fire. My normally black rimmed eyes- which normally looks like I'm always wearing eyeliner on my waterline and upper lid line but I'm not- becomes thicker. Already slitted pupils become pin pricks and while the pupils take on a white color, the sclera and iris take on a glowing black. My hair that had once been in a pony tail now flows freely, whipping around with the power my will gives off. My lips are black as well, giving me an even more feral look. To go with my extra long claws is black fur that covers my fingers all the way to my mid arm, white fire around the wrists. My shirt remains the same, though now there's a collar of black fur around my neck like a V-necked shirt.

"You look magnificent, truth be told," the man tells me as he had been willing to wait for me to switch forms.

I smirk, letting a normal sized fang pop over my lower lip, "Thanks," my voice has taken on a gravelly tone. My eyes flash up to the Noah, which by now Luffy has started to beat the ever living shit out of in an attempt to break it all up before it hits the island. My eyes dart to my fishman opponent again. I don't even give a warning as I rush at him, fire dancing after me. The fishman comes to meet me in the middle of the distance between the two of us, and we clash. I make my way around the knives that come at my throat, and in return drag my claws along his gut. As soon as I'm passed him, my form returns to normal, and a large white fire made fox body clashes with his form after I did. Its large maul consumes him, and with an echoing scream it burns him into nothingness. Why did I even choose my strongest form if that's all I was going to do? Because in order to use Kitsune no Yasei Kyofu, I need to be at my strongest. If I'm not, then the fire will back lash and burn me as well. That's why. However, I didn't go all out right away because there's a reason for that too. Yasei, feral, is in the name of every one of my attacks for that form. The longer I'm in that form, the more feral I become. Simple as that. It's a beast vs. human mind thing that honestly I shouldn't have to explain.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Long Time No Se- You What?**

"And that's how the Straw Hats saved Fishman Island," I finish my current report to Law from within my and Ace's room. Speaking of Ace, he's forced me into his lap again, and refuses to leave so that I may talk to my Captain in private. "Luffy's planning on beating up Big Momma and claiming Fishman Island as his own to protect it seeing as she failed to do just that".

Law is silent and then, "You were forced to use one of your stronger attacks on this fishman?"

"Yes. Mostly to bring a quick end to his life. Had I chosen my Kyubbi form, I probably wouldn't have killed him; he was stronger than most".

"I see. Where are you now?"

"Well, we're off to Punk Hazard. Some guy asked for help so Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Ace and I are off to go see what we can do for him," I tell him.

"You're not going with them to the fire side of Punk Hazard," Law states. "Say your goodbyes".

"...Eh?" I raise a brow despite the fact that the snail on his end can't copy such a look. "What do you mean?"

"As soon as you step onto Punk Hazard, you will head east, to the blizzard side of the island. You will meet me at the docks there, and we will move on with the plan," Law simply states.

"You mean you're there already? Why aren't you helping the man?" Ace demands, however I cover his mouth with a glare. I thought I told him no talking?

"Fire Fist-ya...I've gotten no transmission or call for help from anyone," Law informs. "Creed-ya, you have an hour to meet me at the aforementioned spot". That said, he promptly hangs up, and the snail sleeps.

I glare over my shoulder at the man whose lap I sit in, "The deal was, you're able to stay in here when I'm talking to Law if you stay quite. What happened to that?"

"He's tearing you away from me," Ace grounds out, arms wrapping around my waist and holding me close. This is something I've grown used to by now.

"You knew it was going to happen eventually," I tell him. "Besides. If Luffy accepts Law's offer of an alliance like we know he will, then I'll be around for a bit longer. You're not rid of me yet".

"I don't care. Trafalgar will keep you away from me somehow even if our crews do become allies," he insists. "I don't want that. I'll fight him for you if I have to".

I sigh and make to smack him on the back of his head, only for my hand to go through it, "No you won't". I stand, pulling myself from his hold around me, and head for the door. "I'm sure that we'll be all set to go in a few minutes. I can feel the boys gathering in the small boat Franky's got set up for us". I turn away from him after that pause and finish what I was going to do.

There's a large hand on my shoulder that stops me just as my hand lays on the door's handle. Before I know it, I'm being turned around and a pair of lips are slamming onto mine with a passion I didn't know the owner of those lips had. Sure, normally when he dared to kiss me he'd show me his love then. But this time, it's a yearning like never before. My back slams against the door to the room, and his hands gently trail up and down my sides, a bit over my back and a bit over my hips. His bare chest presses against my clothed one, leaving no space between us as he continues to kiss me. As usual, I don't return the kiss. But unlike usual, this time though I'm very tempted to kiss back. After a good five minutes, his lips leave mine, leaving me to pant through swollen lips.

"I couldn't go without doing that one last time," Ace pants to me, resting his forehead on my own.

I chuckle and place a kind hand on his cheek, "So I see. And...I'm being honest when I say you made it very tempting to kiss back". And yet I didn't. My hand lands on the knob again, and I twist it as to let the door open, and I head to where Mini Mary is waiting for Ace and I.

"Glad you could cut your make out session short," Zoro scowls out. What's he so unhappy about? I roll my eyes before hopping into the boat, and we're ready to go.

With the help of Ace and myself clearing the fire out of the way, we make it to shore in no time, pulling the small boat forward onto the sand so that it doesn't float back into the fire on the water and get burnt to a crisp. I purse my lips. I have forty five minutes to make it to the other side of the island and make it to the dock. And Ace is sucking every minute I have left away by sticking to my side like glue. Luckily, my ass is saved by Luffy being so kind as to find us a real live dragon to run away from, and it momentarily makes us split up. As Ace tries to keep to my side, I decide that the best way to distract him is through something that'll make him ponder. I'm gonna regret doing this.

We hide behind a broken down wall as Luffy, Zoro and Sanji work on running away and therefore keeping the dragon busy. I said it saved my ass, not my whole body. If it saved my whole body, it'd of separated Ace from me by now.

"I can't believe there's a real live dragon here," Ace watches as his little brother, first mate and chef do as mentioned.

"Neither can I. But...At least it gives me time," I state by his side.

"Time for what? To run away. Hell no, you're not going anywhere," Ace insists.

"Calm the hell down," I sigh as I turn to stand in front of him. I meet his eyes with my own, and press my body flush to his leaving no room between us. I feel his body stiffen, and his eyes widen in surprise that obviously asks just what the hell I think I'm doing. Before I can second guess myself- I really don't wanna lead him on but there's no way he's gonna let me give him the slip otherwise- I bring my lips to meet his own, taking his face in my hands and pulling him close. He jolts for a second, and for another second or two he's unresponsive. However, as his arms wrap around my waist and he makes the kiss more passionate, I can't help but feel a thrill run up and down my spine. We kiss for a good five minutes before I take my lips from his own. His eyes open to show a dazed look to them, and I don't know if it's from the fire around us or from the kiss, but his cheeks are pink. "I'll see you later, Ace," I whisper into his ear before slipping out of his now loose hold and running off. By the time he's calling my name, I'm already a good amount of distance away from him. However, I estimate that I only have half an hour to get to Law. Not nearly enough time to make it there on two feet. A large burst of fire engulfs me, and next thing I know I'm running on all fours in my Kyubbi form. The distance I cover in this form is remarkable. And by the time I figure I'm close enough to the docks of this tundra, I also figure I have five minutes to spare. I make it there with one minute left. If I had known I would have been so happy to see my Captain again, I would have been prepared for my own actions. However, because I didn't realize until now just how much I missed him, I surprise myself by what I do. Instead of just simply coming to a stop, once close enough I launch myself at him and literally tackle him to the ground with a happy, "Law!" His back collides with the snow covered ground and I hear him let out a grunt as he lands. I beam down to him until suddenly I find Kikoku unsheathed and placed to my neck.

"Who are you?" Law states dangerously from under me.

I blanch, "Law...It's me. Creed".

"Creed-ya has spiky hair for starters," Law returns.

I scoff, and hold up a hand to let a small ball of white fire dance on the palm of said clawed hand, "Can an impostor do this?"

He's silent before Kikoku is placed to the side and a free arm is wrapped around my person. "No," he tells me as his one armed hug suddenly becomes very strong, and presses me against him. My eyes widen at the close contact. I'm used to it with Ace. And with anyone else I wouldn't be surprised. However, this is Law, the mockingly cool and stoic Surgeon of Death we're talking about here. And he's hugging me as though he were Ace. "It is...Good to have you back, Creed-ya".

I smile as and return to hugging him for a second or two, "It's good to be back, Law. I missed you". And honestly, I did.

Law lets out a long breath before finally letting me go, "Good to know. Now get off; we have things to do". I do as told, getting up and brushing myself free of snow. From there, I let out a long shiver as I look my Captain over. In the eighteen months I've been away from him, he hasn't changed much save his clothing having turned into a long black cloak-like coat with our jolly roger in yellow on it. He seems to be wearing something with a fur collar under it, but other than that he definitely hasn't changed- save his will power, god damn, I'm pretty sure it wasn't that strong before. "You've changed a lot," he tells me, looking me over.

"That I did. You wouldn't happen to have a coat that I could wear, would you?" I question as another rough shiver runs through me. I grin widely as I'm given a coat similar to his, save the jolly roger is in red instead of yellow. I gladly put on, almost right way I'm warm again. It's from here that we begin walking.

"What of the Straw Hats?" He demands as we go, "Are they decent enough?"

My grin is gone from my lips, but that doesn't make me any less pleased, "They're more than decent. They're our best bet. Luffy's probably gonna be a bit too eccentric for you to take most of the time but he's really strong. He won't turn you down".

Law smirks as he continues to lead the way through the seemingly never ending blizzard, "Good".

It doesn't take us long to get into the building that we had been walking towards. And I look around the metal hallways curiously. What's he looking for? My attention though is given else where though, "Captain," I inform, "Marines are here".

"Lead me to them," Law demands, and I nod before doing just that. "How many?"

As we calmly walk to where I know these marines to be, I glance my Captain's way and roll my shoulders in the form of a shrug, "Not a lot; twenty at the most. There's one pretty strong one that would give us a good run for our money and there's another who's weaker but still much stronger than the others. The weaker one is female and the strongest one is...A devil fruit user". This I can tell with just my Kenbunshoku Haki; told you it was fucking strong.

"Wait," Law commands as we pass a hallway that branches off of this one. On each side of this new hallway are hooks that hold chains. One side is promptly labeled 'sea stone' and the other 'normal'. He takes up a sea stone chain and then a normal chain and then switches their positions. "Help me switch these, Creed-ya".

I raise a brow, "Umm...Why?"

"In case either or both of are caught. They'll use sea stone chains on us so that we can't get away," Law tells me.

"The marines?"

"No, our target".

"And that is...?"

"Caesar Clown, a scientist who works for Doflamingo. He creates SMILEs, chemically and artificially made devil fruits of the zoan and sometimes mythical zoan type," Law explains simply. "We are here to capture Caesar, so that we can go on with the rest of the plan". His eyes turn to me as by now I'm giving him a hand. Touching the sea stone with bare hands over and over again is kind of draining, but not so much that I'm taken down. "Doflamingo is the king of Dressrosa, where we will most likely be going after this". He doesn't explain further. The job of switching out the chains is completed within fifteen minutes, and we end up at the opposite end of the hallway where we started at. Why the hell this place needs so many sea stone chains makes little sense.

As we prepare to go back the way we came, I stop, "There's two more people here," I tell my captain. "And they're both fairly strong and dark hearted". I also sense a lot of...Children? Why would children be here? How could children get here? Were they stranded or something after a ship wreck? Still, as I take more note on those within my Haki range, I realize that there's a lot more people on this island other than this Clown guy, the marines, Law, myself and the Straw Hats and of course the children.

"Caesar Clown," Law rumbles out. "Take me to him. We'll be making an alliance with him".

"What? Why?"

"Merely to bring his guard down. Now take me to him," Law demands and I can't help but sigh before doing as told.

From our current position, we can either go straight, left or right. I take a right with Law on my heels, and then take the next left as soon as I can. The door we come to makes the hallway look like a dead end, however it's not and I can tell you now that Caesar Clown and whoever else is in this building are behind the pair of doors we see. Law makes his way passed me, going so far as to knock on the door.

The voice we hear in turn is actually pretty annoying, seeing as though it's obviously male, it has a screeching tone to it that I simply don't understand. "What?!" The door opens seemingly on its own, revealing two people. Law leads the way in as I look the place over. It's a simple room with a bar and stools, couches and a reclining chair with a coffee table in between them. There's a table pushed against another wall, with a small standing lamp sitting on it, its neck bent to look over a piece of paper. At this table is a green haired woman whose body is more than just human. In fact, the only thing about her that's human is her human torso- covered by a short sleeved belly shirt- and head. Her legs are that of a large bird's and instead of arms and hands she has wings covered in feathers, those at the end bent like fingers would be and holding a pencil. What the hell kind of devil fruit did she eat? She looks up from her current position and looks over to show me that she's got a pretty face and golden eyes.

"Caesar Clown," Law greets, "I had heard someone of your caliber would be staying here".

The man that Law addresses has a human physic in that he has human hands and legs and a human torso. His frame is huge, being that of probably Jean Bart's size from what I remember of him. He's pale as paper and his eyes are gold like the woman's, his hair long and shaggy and runs down his back. He has a gasious look to him in that if I were to put my hand against him, it'd go through him. Obviously a logia devil fruit eater. To go with human ears, he has a pair of short goat like horns that pop from his head. His hands are coverd in dark gloves and he's wearing a long coat that goes along with his gasious form. It looks as though there's a hood, and the sleeves are baggy on him while the front is open breaking up the word 'GAS' twice on the front. The he wears a simple full body suit of yellow and red, the stripes alternating in each color and being diagonal on his person. Law sits across from Clown, and he motions for me to come closer as I try to remain on a more business level by continuing to stand and flank Law's spot like Bepo would if he were here. However, as I come closer to Law, he pats the arm rest of his chair, looking at me expectantly as I do as told and sit. "Oh? And you, if I've heard right, are Trafalgar Law, Captain of the Heart Pirates and one of the three newest Warlords of the Sea. I admire the work you did, cutting out one hundred hearts of enemy pirates and sending them to the marines still beating".

"I assumed that was the best way to get their attention in a way I wanted it," Law merely states with his usual cool smile.

Clown's eyes then turn to me, a single black brow raised, "Who is this?"

"She is a subordinate and friend of mine," Law answers. "Say hello, Creed-ya".

My eyes meet Caesar Clown's, and I can't help but to want to recoil at the look in those eyes of his. They are power hungry, calculating and dark. I can easily read just what his will is made up of, and I don't like it at all. However, I do as Law said like a good crew member should, "It's an honor to meet you, Clown-sama".

"'Clown-sama' huh?" His voice happily squeaks out, "I like this one, Law". However his smile is replaced by another curious look, "What do you want?"

"Doctor Vegapunk used to work here, I've heard, so I'm assuming that there are signs of Government movement up until now," Law states casually, "All I ask is for Creed-ya and I to stay here and have free roam of the island. And of course we'll stay out of each others' business. I can do something for you in return if you like".

"Shurororororororo," the man laughs happily. "While I don't trust you completely, you could be of use to me. What do you think, Monet".

Our eyes turn to the woman, and mine widen at the sight of her having real arms and legs like any normal woman. What happened to the bird body parts? None the less the woman smiles as she looks at us from behind glasses now, "Trafalgar Law. He's from the North Blue and ate the Ope Ope no Mi, a former Super Nova and currently one of the Seven Warlords. There are some men here who have been paralyzed by the toxins in the gas that were here before Caesar came along. Do you think you can heal them?"

Law is silent for a moment before stating, "I will do my best". From there he stands, taking Kikoku with him and leaving me to stand on my own and follow him out of the room. It's once we leave the room and once we're back to heading for the marines that he speaks again. "Where are the Straw Hats?"

I pause and widen my range, "They're scattered. Franky is still with the ship but everyone else is on the island. Somehow, Chopper, Nami and Sanji are in this building. There's children here, Law. Why the hell are there children here?" I'm not a fan of kids, but...I can't help but worry for their well being.

"I don't know," Law states in return, a frown marring his face. As the knocking and shouting on two massive metal doors gets louder, his usual cool smile spreads across his face. "Be ready," he tells me as he easily pushes a button on the left right wall that opens the door to the outside world.

"Finally! Someone's answering!" A marine shouts out.

"Do you understand the situation now?" Another taunts, "We're the Navy!" Who cares?

Calmly the two of us make our way to the men and single woman before us. My eyes land on a man that apparently is known for not only continuously hunting and almost catching Luffy multiple times, but also his battle skills. Jaws drop as eyes land on Law's form as it is first to exit the shadows. And as they exclaim that it's not possible, Law just lets himself lean on the edge of one of the open doors casually. "What business do you have at my vacation home, White Hunter?"

I can't help but smile at the taunt, and the fear my Captain instills into the marines before him. "I believe they'd like to come in for some tea," I tease as I settle at his side, standing casually with my hands behind my back.

"Used to be a rookie with a four hundred forty million beli bounty," the woman speaks seriously. Her hair and eyes are dark, however her clothing- more so the coat- is pink in color and laced with white fur. On top of her forehead rests a pair of red rimmed glasses. "But now, along side Hawk-Eye Mihawk, the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock, Donquixote Doflamingo and the rest, he is one of the government-authorized pirates...the Seven Warlords of the Sea!" Thank you honey, I would have never guessed. Her eyes fall onto me, "And she's a Super Nova with a bounty of three hundred ninety million! Known for her animalistic features and her control over fire similar to Fire Fist Ace's, whom she saved along with Straw Hat Luffy at Marineford two years ago at the cost of her own life!"

"Trafalgar Law and Kakusare Creed," the man known as White Hunter Smoker simply states. Aww, he knows my name~!...When'd my bounty go up? He's a burly man with gray hair slicked back save for a single strand. The lower layers of his hair are buzz cut. His eyes are dark, and under his jacket he has nothing but a bear chest. It's like the cold doesn't bother him at all. In little loops on the left side of his jacket are cigars, just as two continuously smoking ones rest in his mouth between his teeth. Why two? Hell if I know. His gloves are brown and tight to the skin as to allow gripping, and his pants are dark like his boots. "This island is off limits for the both of you," he tells us casually.

"It's the same for you, White Hunter. What brings you here?" Law questions coolly.

It's then that Smoker pulls out a recording, and plays the very same transmission that Luffy and the others got. "Does this sound familiar to you? I know you fought at his side on Sabondy, and then with Kyubbi's help you saved him and his brother from Marineford".

"I assure you, I had nothing to do with that call. I didn't even know that it was there".

"Might we come in and make sure that they're not here then?" Smoker tries again.

"That won't be necessary. If I find any Straw Hats trespassing, I will dispose of them," Law states firmly. "There's no on but myself and Creed-ya here".

Talk about your bad timing. Why? Because moments after Law insists on this, familiar wills flood my senses and I stiffen. Shit. Out the door come Nami, Chopper, Sanji, and a bunch of...Children. There are boys and girls alike, and they literally come in different shapes and sizes. Some of them look to be of the Giant race, others are normal and human sized, and then there are those who look like a mix between the two. Chopper is leading the way out, encouraging them to follow him. However, he and the others stop upon seeing not only myself and the marines, but Law as well.

"You...You did this, didn't you?! You're the only one with the ability! You're a monster!" Chopper, it's not what it seems like! "And...Creed...You..You knew about this didn't you?! That's why you disappeared while Luffy and the others were dealing with that dragon! You're just as bad as he is! They're just children!" Shut up. Shut up! I'm innocent you little ass! "This way kids!" He doesn't even stop to let me explain.

"Soldiers! We'll get the Straw Hat pirates!" The girl of the marines speaks up.

"R-Right! Let's follow Captain-chan!" One agrees, and the others follow his example.

Law looks to me and sighs, "They just made things a lot harder". Sorry. Not my fault. "Room," he commands, allowing a large dome of clear blue energy to cover over us all. This burst of power knocks over the weaklings, but Law doesn't stop there. He does something that even I'm amazed by. "Tact," with a raise of his right pointer finger, the warship of all things sets to start floating in the air, defying gravity. My eyes look to the concentrated face he makes, even as even water, rocks, weapons and barrels alike go along with everything else. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave now," he tells the marines, "I'm sorry I told you that no one was here".

"This...This guy is bad news!" One weakling exclaims, frightened.

"He's so powerful!" Another agrees.

"Stand back," Smoker demands, "Don't touch him with even a finger; he'll just pull it off". Actually, he'll cut it off and then put it somewhere that it doesn't belong. Still, this gets the desired effect it seems, as the men of this group of marines- G-5 apparently- cheer the fruit user on. Law in the mean time unsheathes Kikoku just as Smoker unsheathes his jutte. With his free hand, Law commands the floating debris around us all to move this way and that. "Give us back our ship".

"Sure," Law agrees, shocking the weaklings, "But I can't give it back to you the way it is". That said, in a show of his power, with a single swing the warship is cut in half, amazing most of us including myself. I don't think he could do that a year and a half ago...Damn. From there, a small mountain sized piece of land raises to meet the ship, and is cut into multiple pieces with the help of Kikoku. And with simple gestures of his hand, the slabs of rock are pieced together with the ship in some sort of abstract art form. That makes me raise my brow. "I can't let a single one of you escape," he tells the weaklings as left over slabs crash down around them.

"Vice-Admiral let's pull back!" So that's Smoker's rank. Not bad. "His powers are too creepy!"

"But without the ship we can't get back to the base," another denies.

"Warlords report to the government," one of the G-5 members calls out to Law, "Attacking us is against the rules you know!"

"I'll report this to HQ!" One more growls out. These guys are getting annoying.

"Not to worry," Law looks my way, and points his weapon to the ground. With his free hand he runs it down the flat side of the blade making it glow with a command of, "Scan!" A wave of blue runs over the group. I don't know what he saw, but with a simple pull of his free hand there's a bunch of den den mushi on the ground next to them. He doesn't even look my way, "Burn them". I waste no time, gesturing to the pile of snail phones and lighting them ablaze for a moment or two. The fire dies out, and nothing but ashes are left. "I cannot let you report anything you've seen on this island! Not to the Government or to HQ!"

"Do you really think that we're going to let you be the pirate you've always been?!" Smoker growls out, and rushes my Captain. "Even if you are a surgeon-man who ate the Ope Ope no Mi and can operate on anything!" He lashes out, only for Law to move around the jutte and cut through him. His body turns to smoke, but some of G-5 aren't so lucky; they're cut but left alive as is supposed to be in the operation room. "Get out of the circle! This is his operation room, and as long as you're in it, you're his patients strapped to the table! He's the Surgeon of Death!" He calls to his men.

My eyes dart to the girl who rushes my Captain. How dare she turn this into a two on one? I growl and rush forward, blocking her blade with a set of two and a half inch long claws. "What do you think you're doing, girlie?" I demand, "No double teaming". Her eyes glare harshly into my own, and with a simple swipe of my claws, the blade is cut into pieces. "You're no match for me, hun," I sneer out.

"Then kill me. You haven't cut me, only my blade. It's a dishonor for a swordsman to be sliced at but not killed".

I roll my eyes, "Stupid. As my Captain would say, 'weaklings don't get to choose their method of death'...However, you will be in the way if I just let you sit here. I'll burn you, how's that?" That said, with a lash of my other set of claws, them laced with white fire, I prepare to take the woman down. Kill her if I feel that it's right. However, I hear the shouts of those of G-5. Something about me making fun of their Captain-chan and how I'm a bitch for doing so. Therefore they decide that it'll be them that take me down. I'll be filled with holes apparently, seeing as I merely control fire, not become it. As they fire, a wave of real fire rushes from me, following the command of my hand as it meets the bullets and wastes no time in melting them into nothingness. The wave of fire continues, rushing after the stunned marines and quickly taking shape of running fire made foxes the size of a horse. There's one for each man, and as they watch the fire foxes burn snow away with each paw step closer to them, they run. "Shuryo Kasai," I smirk out. My attention from there returns to Captain-chan and I tilt my head. Again I prepare to lash down at her with fire laced black claws. However, as she lays there without anything to protect her, my claws meet metal. Smoker's form becomes solid again, and he lashes down at me. However, I dodge and block with my claws. "There's sea stone on the end of this thing, isn't there?" I question.

"Don't underestimate a marine," Smoker glares at me. His eyes turn to his subordinate, "Get up Tashigi; get another sword so you can fight". The woman nods and stands to her feet, were she runs after the men to borrow another blade. Smoker in the mean time lashes out at me again, smoke lashing out at me and causing me to raise a wall of fire to meet it. However, my eyes widen as the jutte slams into my back and the fire falls. I'm thrown to the side, and the jutte comes after me. As I roll to the side, the jutte is met by Kikoku.

"I am you're opponent, Smoker-ya," Law states. And the two clash as I gather myself up.

My eyes again fall to the girl, Tashigi, as she crosses the distance between the two of us and I sigh. My claws clash with her blade again, though this time the metal is darker than usual. "Bosushoku Haki?" I question.

"Yes," she glares at me. "This will help me take you down!" She glares.

"I don't think so. I've spent the last year and a half fighting someone who's rather skilled with Bosushoku. Yours is nothing compared to his," I push her away, and a whip of fire appears in my other hand. With a whipping, literally, motion of my arm, the currently red fire wraps around her arm and pulls her close to me. "I'd use my normal fire, but honestly I don't feel like taking your arm from you".

"What's that supposed to mean?" She grunts, attempting to pull her arm from the fire, but fails. Which I'm not surprised by, the fire is mixed with my will, something I learned to do over my training period. "Well, if I used white fire, you would currently be writhing in pain and begging for death. You've got potential, so I don't wanna take that from you". I pull her towards me with the fire whip, over powering her will to stay put easily, and bring her to me. The result is her using this momentum to her advantage. Claws meet a sword in a clash, and I grin. "Try harder," I demand.

She growls and ignores the burning sensation I know to be in her captured arm, and uses both hands to push down on my claws. The result is me lashing up with a foot to kick her in the side. She flies to the side and crashes into the snow. Or...She would if there weren't still a fire whip around her arm. Before she can land and plant her feet in any sort of way, I jerk back on the whip and bring her back to me. Again she tries this momentum trick of hers, which I easily get around and allow her to actually crash land this time. Another whip of fire appears in my free hand, and I whip it to wrap it around her other arm. As she tries to pull free, I dare to look away and see the destruction my Captain is causing. God damn that looks like fun! What brings my attention back to my fight was the girl's impressive strength and determination as she reels me in using my own whips. I won't have that though, and as such use my superior strength to pull her forward and whip her around. Crash her into snow here, crash her into snow there, have her fling into this debris, and then that debris. I do let her go though. She lands not too far from Law. I'm lucky to see Law using Scalpel to take Smoker's heart. Speaking of which, I should ask for mine back.

I walk forward, watching as Law stares down at the down and out Smoker, "That reminds me," I speak to the serious man. "Can I have my heart back?"

He looks to me, obviously still tense from the fight before he sighs and hands me Kikoku to hold. I do as silently told, and from hell knows where he pulls another, smaller heart. I know right away that it is mine as he lightly runs a hand down one of the cube's sides and a wave of pleasure comes over me. So that's what he had been doing back then. He looks from my heart and then to me before walking closer to me. I hold my ground as he places the cube against the hole in my chest and then pushes it into its place. Moments later, it's as though my heart was never taken and there's a wave of energy that washes through me. Have I been that low on energy all this time? I feel three times stronger now! I grin and hand him back Kikoku. His eyes fall to the downed duo before us- Tashigi a bit further away- before making a simple motion. I don't know what he did, but no matter.

"Creed!" I hear a familiar voice call out. "Creed!" God damn it Ace!

As once, Law and I turn to face the group that comes our way through the snow storm. Luffy, Ace, Usopp and now Robin and Zoro. "Oi! It's you, Tra-guy!" Heh, 'Tra-guy'. Nice Luffy. "Thanks for healing me all that time ago!"

"I just did it on a whim," Law assures him. "Come, Creed-ya".

I nod, not even looking Luffy's, let alone Ace's way. "Stop!" Ace demands, making Law and I stop. "Trafalgar...I'll fight you for her".

"What ever are you talking about, Fire Fist-ya?" Law turns to face Ace, eyes narrowed.

"I'll fight you for Creed," he tells him. "So that she can join our crew for real. She loved it there, I know it! If I beat you, she can come back. Deal?"

I growl and step forward, placing my frame slightly in front of Law's. "I'm not some object you can fight over, Ace".

"He treats you like a slave! Making you do as he wants you to and stealing your heart- literally- and then punishing you for something I say! It's not right!" Ace stomps his foot, a burst of fire melting the snow below said foot. "Leave the Heart Pirates. I know you loved it with us; the fun we had!"

I sigh and cross my arms over my chest, "Ace...Listen to me and listen to me very carefully". I pause, "The Heart Pirates is my home. I love it on Law's crew. You guys are great people, but you're not fit for me. I...Love to kill, Ace. I'm a murderer through and through. And while I don't go on slaughter fests, I do get antsy when I can't kill an enemy I've defeated if I want to. I can do that with the Heart Pirates; the Straw Hats merely beat the bad guy to a pulp and hope he doesn't come back stronger".

Ace is silent for a moment, and he sighs, "I'm still not giving up on you, Creed. I love you. I want you by my side. I want you to help me make my brother the Pirate King".

"Ace!" I growl out. "I don't return those feelings damn it!"...Right...? My hands clench. "We're just friends!" Why am I second guessing myself? "What's it going to take for you to realize that?!" Why's he gotta be so stubborn?! "Why do you have to be so god damn stubborn, Ace?!"

"I'm stubborn because I believe what I say," Ace tells me.

"You never answered my first question," I point out as Law turns to walk away. Obviously annoyed by the drama shit that's going on and has nothing to do with him.

"It's going to take you having a boyfriend that you actually love and showing him to me," he tells me sternly.

I have half the mind to use Law as the 'boyfriend' but I know he wouldn't go with it for one. And two, I don't feel that way for Law as it is. I scoff and turn away, jogging to catch up with my Captain. "I'm sorry you had to be there to see that bull shit," I sigh out, "I honestly was hoping Ace wouldn't find us but," I shake my head, trailing off.

Law is silent until we're back inside, the doors shut firmly behind us, "He's going to be like that the whole time, isn't he?"

"Looks like it," I growl out, annoyed at this factor. "Honestly. He's a nice guy and everything, but I just...Don't feel that way for him. I could...You know, kiss up to Zoro or something and act accordingly until we separate from them but that doesn't sound like a sound idea". I sigh, "If Lyst were here, I'm sure he'd be willing to play pretend".

Law looks my way as we make our way back to where we know Caesar to be. "Lyst?" He smirks, "He misses you".

"I miss him too," I laugh out, "He's a good friend. Just like you are," I tell him.

Law looks my way, "You're saying I'm your friend?"

"Yup!" I beam to him. "My Captain and my friend. Whether you like it or not".

"Then why don't we go out?" Law suggests, and this makes me stop where I am.

My eyes are wide and a wash of surprise runs through my veins like ice water, "I'm sorry?"

"We're friends aren't we? Friends date," Law turns to look at me with a blank stare. "Until they start dating. Then they're more than friends".

"B...But you're my Captain!" Is he saying he likes me romantically? "I'm just...Well I'm just your crew member".

Law turns with a sigh, and leans on the wall behind him as Kikoku rests in his hand, sheathed and rested as it should be. "So?" He raises a brow. "Do you want Fire Fist to go back to being a normal friend or not? It seems he's obsessed with you, being 'in love' as he apparently is".

"So...Play pretend like I was saying with Lyst?" I question.

He shakes his head and props his nodachi on the wall before pushing off of it and making his way towards where I stand frozen. "You're a horrible lair. Pretending wouldn't work. Fire Fist-ya is smart, so he'd see right through your poor acting skills," thanks a lot. "So we become a couple for real," he tells me, now standing directly in front of me. "Do you object?"

Do I? I don't know that even if we did become a couple, if it would work out to take Ace off of my tail and lure him back into being a normal person. Law is right; he does seem obsessed with this love thing. Still, Law's not the touchy feely kind of guy that I think I may need to have in order to at least deter Ace a little bit. As I look into my Captain's eyes, ember meeting storm gray, I can't help but feel as those those two storm orbs are pulling me in. As they pull me in to them, I pause and think some more. Part of me wants to say yes and jump into his arms. But the other part, the more rational and prideful part, says, "I'd rather not". I sigh out these words. "In fact, I was an idiot for simply figuring I'd be able to go through with it with Lyst as well or at all. No...I'll find a different way to get him to understand. Thank you for offering though".

The man's straight face turns into a small frown and then a small smile. Why is he smiling when I just rejected him? Did I even do the right thing? "Very well, Creed-ya. However, I will point out that I still have a promise to up hold. I said I would steal your heart and I will".

"You already did that when-"

"I _took out_ your heart, Creed-ya, there is a difference. However it seems that you don't understand what I am saying. Why do you think I wanted you to return to _me_? Creed-ya, I will put it into terms that you will understand as it seems that at the moment your mind is not functioning properly," he comes closer to me, forcing me to back up and lean against the wall behind me. His frame is very close. Just like the few other times. His breath is cool as it wafts over the shell of my ear in a soft- surprisingly seductive- whisper, "I love you".

I feel my heart flutter, and it's not because he's stroking it. He places a tattooed hand on my shoulder and the other pushes my chin up. Next thing I know, his lips are touching my own. My eyes widen in surprise. Not because I'm surprised he kissed me. But because it feels...So...Damn good. Just like those last two times Ace and I kissed. I never pegged Law for being one to tenderly kiss someone. It feels...so of course it feels good...Shut up mind, I'm kissing Law right now; no need to think of Ace. There's a long sigh that comes from my nose, and I relax completely. Arms find their way around his neck to bring him closer. His lips are soft and smooth, as opposed to Ace's which while are also smooth, have a different texture to them that I can't place. Despite what many people may think, Law doesn't smell like antiseptic and other medical stuff. Instead, he smells of cold fresh air and a musk I can't place but find myself quickly addicted to. By now I feel his arms around my waist, holding me close to him. We remain like this for a few moments more before finally we separate. Half lidded stormy orbs meet half lidded fire ones.

"It seems that you're now more mine than ever before," Law smiles mockingly to me. "If I had known that it was nothing but a kiss that was needed to win you over, I would have done that first".

A hot blush washes over my skin. God damn it, is my life seriously a love triangle? What the hell kind of life for a pirate is that?! "You didn't win me over, Law," I tell him through the blush and with a frown marring my lips. "If I could be won over by just a kiss, I'd be with Ace right now". This makes the mocking smile turn into a displeased frown. I smirk back to him, feeling victorious after wiping that smile off his face. I want to kiss him again, to be honest, but decide not to. My life isn't a fuckin' love story. It's not constant kisses or nothin'. I'll have to keep those words in mind.

He releases me with a low chuckle, a sound that I can't help but find pleasant. I think I've only ever heard that sound once or twice before, so it's rare. Still, the fact that he's recovered so quickly from my come back is not a laughing matter. It's my turn to scowl a bit as my brows furrow lightly. What's he laughing at in the first place? "What's so funny?"

"I will not be losing to Fire Fist-ya," he assures calmly, "In fact, this may be interesting to see just who truly steals your hear; I've been looking for a decent challenge. This may just be it".

I growl lowly in my throat and glare menacingly, "My love is not some trophy you can put in a case or hang on the wall, _Captain_"

"No, it's much more important than any sort of prize. However, it will be interesting to see what it's like to compete for something without killing my opponent. However, even though this is something of a game, it is a game of _war_ I will be playing against Fire Fist-ya. As I said, I _will_ win your heart. You'll see," he pauses before turning away, "Come now; we have things to do". He leaves me in the dust. I sigh and slump my shoulders, slowly following him whilst placing one hand to my lips and the other to my heart. My lips tingle with the memory of the last two kisses I've shared with two very different men. My heart calls for Ace and Law in opposite directions. My life is not a fucking love story...At least I really hope it's not. That'd be annoying.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: You Can Catch Gas If You Try Hard Enough**

I sigh as I sit in the cave that is the Straw Hats' current hide out area. Why am I sitting here with a bunch of children, and those who for the most part aren't too happy with me for playing spy on them? Because we're trying to think of a way to counter attack against Caesar. Not too long ago, we had left that building, and basically made ourselves enemies of said gas-man.

FLASHBACK

After our little talk about whether or not we should date or whatever, we made it to Caesar's room. To say the least that he wasn't happy with Law nor I was an understatement. He figured we betrayed him, seeing as apparently the plan was simply to scare away Smoker and his little G-5 force along with that Tashigi girl. That way no attention was given to the action on Punk Hazard at all. Monet, whom again had herself back in that weird bird form of hers, announced our connection to the Straw Hats. This only pissed of Caesar even more. However, he was calmed down by two things. One is a heart that he's given and is told belongs to Smoker. Caesar was very pleased with this, and even amazed. After all, to hold a still beating heart in your hand is a weird yet amazing thing.

After he was calmed down a bit, Law asked him about the children and just what they were doing there. Apparently they were, and still are, lab rats. The gas-man wasn't at all worried about the kiddies getting away. When asked why, he explained of an instantly addictive drug that he had been giving to the kids every day. They can't have the 'candy' at home, and therefore they'll stay here in order to get what they want. This disgusted both Law and I. Me because who the hell does experiments on children who don't even know the fuck better? Law? Apparently Caesar reminds him of someone. Doflamingo perhaps? I don't know.

"What about the Straw Hats?" Law demanded from his spot. Again he was relaxed in that said chair from before, I was sitting on the arm rest again.

"Oh them? I'm not going to worry about them any more," Caesar assured, "Monet suggested that I send out someone strong to take care of them, since they seemed on the stronger side too So I sent the Yeti Cool Brothers after them. They'll be dead in no time".

"Speaking of the Straw Hats," Monet spoke up, "You were the one who healed Straw Hat Luffy and took him, his brother and Jinbei away from that place safely during the war. Who's to say you aren't allies with them?" Her eyes turned to me, "And you were the one to get them to the sub at the cost of your own life in the first place. Surely you're closest to them".

Caesar of course wasn't happy about that at all, and pulled a pistol out on us with an enraged gaze in his eyes. "You're telling me that these two have some sort of relationship with that crew? What's the meaning of this Law?" There was a sneer on his not so good looking mug.

Law of course wasn't effected by the barrel of the gun being pointed at himself. And when it was pointed to me as well he remained neutral. "I did heal him, and Creed-ya did save them. However, we have nothing to do with their being on this island. It's merely chance that they are here".

"Besides," I spoke up, "What would bringing them here do for us? They're known for causing trouble like they already have. They're in our way too you know".

The clown looked my way thoughtfully before he smiled widely and pulled his pistol away, tucking it somewhere I didn't want to know about. "Of course, what am I thinking?" He he chuckled, "Having them here would of course make things more complicated for you, seeing as you are a Shichibukai and are on Punk Hazard".

Law was silent as he stood, and we readied to leave. It seemed we were off to actually get real allies by the way his will felt. Through the doors we went and through the hallways, "Creed...Find a back way out of here and we'll take it," he told me.

I did as commanded, and found a tunnel that looked to be off limits. "This way," I told him, and took a sudden right and then a left. Down some stairs we went. The only time we stopped was when some of Caesar's men stopped us.

"I'm sorry, Law-sama, Creed-sama, this area is off limits," the man in the yellow stripped suit told.

"We may do as we please," Law stated simply, wasting no time in cutting the men down. Me? I simply watched.

Our travel didn't last very long. Not with me leading Law directly to where Luffy was at the time, "He's fighting, Law," I told him.

"That's fine". Our arrival didn't take long at all, and what we found was Luffy and Franky fighting two large men. I raised a brow. They must have been the Yeti Cool Brothers. Both of them were rather large, a round a giant's size I would think.

It seemed that one of them saw Law, and began to speak to Law. I on the other hand focused on the other one. I pursed my lips upon seeing him before deciding that my Kyubbi form won't be needed. He's big, but he's weak. I didn't know why Nami-Franky couldn't take him down...Then again, Nami-Franky isn't Franky and thus couldn't use the body's attacks as well if at all in the first place.

"You're pretty for a free loader," the yeti told me.

"Gee," I scoffed out with a roll of my eyes, "Thanks". I didn't waste any time, and while Law was using Counter Shock, I was just starting up. I spin on the ball of my right planted foot, drawing a circle around me in the snow with my other foot. A burst of white hot fire formed a ring around me, and then It grew and twisted wildly. Below me, the snow was rapidly melting, digging me a trench to stand in. I jumped through the tornado of fire, and it left me, and grew taller as to enclose around the yeti brother. "Kitsune no Chimatsuri," I commanded. There was a scream and then the fire turned red before dying away. Nothing but another trench in the snow was there.

I looked to where I saw Nami-Franky and walked forward as to get the woman-bot free. I used a small white flame on a claw tip to melt the chains into brokenness. "Thanks," she told me, a light smile on her lips. Why was she being nice? I tricked her. She seemed to read my mind as she spoke up.

"I tricked this crew a while back myself," Nami-Franky told me. "I know how it feels to make friends and have to keep secrets from them".

I smiled, "Thank you Nami".

"Now...Could you get your Captain to turn me back to normal?!" She demanded, this time no where near as nice as she had been. I chuckled and held up my hands placating. Law would do that on his own terms.

"I'd like to talk to you," Law stated to Luffy.

"What do you want to say?" He questioned.

"Even though your coming to the island migh have been accidental, there is an important key lying dormant on the island that could throw the world into pandemonium," Law started off. He must have been talking about SAD, "There are only two ways to survive in the New World. One, either go under the safety umbrella of a Yonko. Or two, consistently challenge them. I know you're not the serving kind".

Luffy nodded seriously, "Damn right I'm not". Hearing the young man curse made me chuckle for an odd reason.

Law continued, "I would like to make an alliance between your crew and my own all for the purpose of bringing down a Yonko".

Luffy tilted his head and pursed his lips, "How are you going to do that?"

"I haven't thought up a plan yet. However that should be taken care of when the time is right. What do you say? Can we become allies?" I already knew the answer.

"Which Yonko are we taking down?"

"Kaido," Law answered without a single pause. "Kaido of the Beasts".

"What?!" Nami-Franky demanded, not at all pleased. "Like hell! Luffy say no! Why would we want to go against a Yonko in the first place?!"

There was a pause and then, "Shishishishishi! Alright! It's a good thing you didn't pick Shanks. I don't want to go against him yet!" Of course he didn't. Shanks after all was Luffy's hero basically. "I plan on taking them all down anyways! This is just the beginning!"

END FLASHBACK

So here I am, sitting- well actually I'm standing but no matter- and leaning against a stalagmite and watching the others argue whether or not to trust us. Well, more so whether or not to trust my Captain. They've all agreed that despite my tricking of them, they trust me like a nakama should. That made me happy. What doesn't make me me happy is the fact that Ace won't stop looking my way every now and then.

It seems that Law isn't happy about Ace taking glances my way constantly either. Why? Because there's a scowl on his face. Or maybe he's annoyed by the fact that they can't make up their minds. Stormy orbs look my way and he motions with a single finger, "Come here". I raise a brow before pushing off from my spot and coming to him. He reaches forward and places me in front of him before wrapping his long arms around my waist and pinning my back to his chest.

"Law, what are you doing?" I mutter with furrowed brows.

"You're going to be mine. Fire Fist must know this," Law states firmly.

I roll my eyes before promptly pulling from his loose hold and simply leaning next to him. "Hush and pay attention," I tell him casually, ignoring his glare of doom that obviously demands that I don't order him around again.

"We can't trust him, Luffy," Ace demands to his little brother, his eyes shooting to where I was. However when he realizes that I've changed spots, and just where to I've changed spots, his yes narrow. "He's strategic and manipulative. Who's to say he won't play you like one of Brook's violins?"

"I myself am strategic," Robin admits from where she is, a calm smile on her face. "I don't see Trafalgar-san tricking us when he needs our help to make his survival rate go up". And yet even then the chance that we survive is only about thirty percent according to Law.

"If he tries anything funny then he'll have to deal with me and you guys," Luffy states, "We've been training for two years. And we out number them".

"It would be five to one," Usopp sums up quickly. "There's ten of us and only two of them...".

"But one of them is a Super Nova and the other is a Warlord!" Nami insists from within Franky's body.

"So?" Ace grunts out, "I'm a former White Beard Pirate; my bounty was about five hundred fifty million beli last I checked. Luffy and I alone can take Trafalgar if we work together," not if I have any say in it. You'd be stuck fighting me before you fought my Captain, Ace.

"Yea!" Luffy cheers. "We'll kick their asses if they betray us!" Thanks Luffy, you dork. None the less, at the very least the issue has been taken care of, and Law is now trust worthy.

"Now, while that's all great and stuff," Nami demands before looking to Law from where he is behind me, "Give us our bodies back!"

"I'm afraid I don't take orders well" Law states.

I look over my shoulder, "But...?" He knows they'll be annoying as fuck if he doesn't put them back to normal.

"But I'll do what I can. I don't have your own body nor Black Leg-ya's. So you'll have to move into his body until he comes back with yours," Law states and goes through with the switch. Unfortunately, Nami still isn't too happy about this and Chopper is still as useful as a noodle for whatever reason.

"What do you mean I have to stay in this pervert's body?!" Nami screeches, something I should hear coming out of Sanji's body. And as a result, Luffy, Chopper and Usopp burs out laughing. I'm grinning from ear to ear. This is why I love this crew. Because their such idiots it's funny. "I want my body damn it!"

"I can't give you your body back unless it's near by," Law states from his spot. He seems rather comfortable with me leaning on him. Hell knows I'm comfy. He's so warm. Not Ace warm of course, which my mind decides to be an ass and reminds me is what I prefer apparently, but it's nice. "Anyways," Law continues, "If we're going to get things done we should leave the children behind. They would be too much of a burden for us to take care of and they're addicted to some sort of drug thanks to Caesar". I can't help but find myself agreeing with him. It is a necessary evil.

"I know that!" Chopper states, not wanting to do as we suggest. "I know they're addicted to that horrible stuff! But I can't figure out why they're all becoming so big!"

I sigh. "Turning humans into giants has been a World Government project that's been going on for hundreds of years," Law explains. I figured that that's what was going on. Well, the government being the reason behind it at least, not that they were turning into giants.

Robin, like Chopper is obviously appalled, "Why would someone want to do such a horrible thing?"

"Probably so they would have stronger soldiers. Caesar is continuing the research to beat the World Government because of some grudge against someone better than him- Vegapunk maybe- even though it doesn't look like it's doing very well. I mean...Look at the kiddies. They're massively strong, but they'll still have to grow up. And even then, will they have a full life? I don't think they will. Not only that, but not all of them will want to be part of the government- not that I'd blame them". These are my honest words and thoughts. Damn corrupted Government. "Do you guys really wanna save the kids? They're strangers and you don't know where they're from or how to get them home".

"Were you always this cold?" Ace's brows furrow my way. "Or is Trafalgar's presence pressuring you into being this way?"

I sigh, "Ace," I watch as his features become less harsh towards me and turn more confused than anything else, "This is how I really am. I'd love to save the kids too- innocent lives and all- but we've got a mission to complete. It'd be a necessary evil if we left them behind. If we were to try and save them, and they stopped up from stopping what will cause the world to come to pandemonium, then we would have failed. It's hundreds of lives over a few dozen".

Chopper stubbornly huffs, "I'm not leaving these children behind!"

Luffy agrees, doing the reindeer's job of putting his foot down, "Me neither! I wanna save them! Them and that Samurai guy that Sanji found!" Samurai? O...Kay then. I'll probably figure out who or what this samurai guy is and how the hell Sanji found him later.

"Creed can support me when I say that your ideals and Luffy's are different when it comes to what an alliance is. To him, you've just become a long time friend who will help him if he's stubborn enough," Usopp offers to my new boyfriend.

I sigh and trail my fingers along the back of one of Law's hands, his muscles tense from slight frustration, "It's true. He's the most stubborn buy I've seen in my life". I feel his muscles ever so slightly untense and smile to myself. It seems that our newly made relationship is going well so far. So why do I still fill guilty about Ace?

Law shifts against me, pulling his arms from my waist and letting me push of of him as he pushes off from his spot. "Fine. Helping these kids and Kin'enmon are not part of the alliance...But Creed-ya and I will help you. Do something about Kin'enmon yourself while we go and try to figure out what medicine the children were administrated. Who is your doctor?"

"I am!" Chopper proudly states from his still paralyzed state. Just how did he get so beaten up anyways? None the less, Usopp comes up with the bright idea of tying Chopper to Law's head so that the latter of the two will have free hands to defend himself if need be. The poor man's mortified, and I'm laughing my ass off on the ground.

"That's just so cruel!" I gasp at one point, slapping my hand to the ground, "Poor Cho- I mean Law! Bahahaha!"

"You look good like that, Trafalgar," Ace chuckles at him. I'm pretty sure his arms are crossed over his chest and he's got a sneer on his face. But I can't really see right right now.

"I'm sorry Law," Chopper's face is hilariously serious, "But I'm still badly hurt. I'll have to rely on you to protect me on the way there".

Law's eyes fall to my form that's currently gasping for air, "Creed-ya," he states dangerously calm, "Care to fix the current issue?"

My eyes fall onto my Captain and meet his stormy eyes before finally deciding to take the mortification away from his person before he explodes. "I'll carry you guys through the snow," I tell Law and the little reindeer. "It'll go faster that way". I make my way towards the entrance of the cave. I look around. I'll have to shift outside. And that's exactly what I do. White fire rushes around me and a burst of power rolls off my form. The fire dies, showing melted away snow and charred stone. I lower my black head to look down at the lot of them, my completely red eyes looking them over. "Shall we go then?" My voice rumbles without me really opening my mouth.

"Yes," Law states as he grabs a hold of Chopper's bag and holds still as to let me wrap one of my nine tails around him. He looks far down to those below us and calls, "Caesar-ya wants to get rid of you and White Hunter-ya, and he will keep on attacking you until you fall; you've discovered his base of operations. He can't afford to let you get away. Remember Straw Hat-ya, we need to capture Caesar alive so that we can use him to our advantage. But we're not looking for a ransom, just chaos".

Luffy runs out of the cave to look up at us despite the fact that I'm currently laying down. "All we gotta do is capture him right?"

"Right," Law nods out. "However once we do that, things will start moving very quickly and you won't be able to turn back. Are you sure you want to keep this alliance?"

"Of course!" Luffy nods out, just as I knew he would. "I'll get the others to agree with us!" He assures. With that settled, I stand and place him on my back before taking off at a steady paced fast walk.

"We're up so high!" Chopper exclaims as Law holds him in a sitting position on my back just behind my withers. "This is amazing Creed!"

His excitement amuses me and I can't help but to chuckle. At least someone finds this fun. "You mean you've never been this high up?" I question. Not surprising but I've got to ask. I'm almost the size of a large mountain...I think. I know I'm bigger than the marine warship that Law destroyed earlier.

"Not even close," Chopper states. I can only imagine that there are stars in his eyes. "Have you ever been this high up Law?"

"No," Law states simply, bluntly. Aww, there he goes again, being all serious. I like it better when he's mocking or at least a bit less formal. It takes us little to no time to reach the back side of the research facility where Law and I had exited only an hour or so before. And once I have the two of them off my back I'm back on two legs and carrying Chopper for Law, careful not to jostle his injuries to much. Still, we're not quite into the facility when we hear crashes and the sounds of a fight. We turn to find Luffy and the others in a clash between Caesar's men and the marines. Knowing that they can hold their own, and knowing that we can't get further with Chopper out in the open, we place him into Law's bag and head to the very room that we need to.

However just as we were going to take Chopper out of the bag, I feel someone approaching. "Captain," I murmur, "That Monet girl is coming," I tell him.

His eyes narrow dangerously as he hands me his bag, "Hide. Stay here and help Chopper-ya find what he needs to".

"Law?" Monet tilts her head curiously as she sees him, and just as I finish hiding myself and Chopper under a desk. "What are you doing in here?"

"Merely looking for government movement," Law lies smoothly. I wish I could lie that well, damn it. "Come with me? I have some questions I'd like to ask Caesar-ya".

"I don't see why not," Monet agrees, and they leave the room moments later.

I wait until they're a good distance away before letting out a sigh and pulling Chopper out of the bag. It is then that we get to work. There's not much I can do really, merely having enough knowledge to fix up external wounds and tell when someone's sick or what is hurt where. Other than that, I'm useless when it comes to stuff like this. However I don't let that get to me, and I get things for little Chopper when he needs them. Microscopes or vials, stuff like that. My eyes widen though as my senses tell me that something is incredibly wrong. Or something went incredibly against Law's planning. My mind's eye shows me two things. One, a tall man with dark glasses, tan skin, short black hair and a short beard with a piece of meat stuck to his face- what the hell by the way- and dressed in nice clothing looking down on an...Out cold Law. In reaction to this, I barely hold myself back. Maybe Law will be okay? However, it's twenty minutes later that my Kenbunshoku Haki tells me that things are not okay. Again my mind's eye shows me a short little vision. In a cage is not only Law, but also Franky, Robin, Smoker and that Tashigi girl that I beat the shit out of.

I stop what I'm doing and look to the little reindeer, "Chopper. Law, Luffy, Robin, Ace and Franky are in trouble! I've gotta help them!"

"I'll go too!" Chopper insists.

"No," I tell the weakened child voiced deer, "I'll do it. You stay here and take care of finding whatever is in the children's blood stream. I've got this". I don't give him time to protest and run out of the room down one hallway and down another before bursting through the doors to the outside world, the doors close behind me on their own. As I rush around the building to get to the doors that will more quickly lead me to where I feel Law to be, I can't help but stop and stare at the purple cloud that doesn't all look safe. "The hell is that?!" I demand before turning and running towards where I know Law to be. However, just as I run through a cloud of smoke- who made that by the way? Franky? I think he has a flamethrower in him. It'd be him if not Ace- I find myself in Room. "Law!" I call up to my Captain, making him stop whatever he was doing and look down to me.

"What are you doing here?" Law demands. "You're supposed to be helping Chopper-ya!"

"I got a bit of a vision of you being in trouble and here I am!" I tell him, looking around. There's not much for me to use to get as high as the cage. At least not by jumping off of things. I continue to look up before collecting my muscles under me and launch myself up. If I hadn't trained for as long as I did, I wouldn't of made that jump by far. I land on the edge of the cage just as Luffy and Robin make their way out of the cage, and Franky follows shortly afterwords despite Law's not wanting them to work independently. Luckily, they just land in the snow- Luffy and Robin that is. "What's going on?"

Ace, who rubs his wrists as the chains are taken off of him, decides to explain. "First off, there's a guy named Vergo here who is a corrupt marine who actually works under Joker- Doflamingo's underground name- who also has Trafalgar's heart. We can't do anything to Caesar until Trafalgar gets his heart back from Vergo". Next thing I know, I'm in the facility and Ace is still talking. Law must have acted in transporting us here already. "We have two hours to find a room that says sixty six which is apparently the safest room here. By the time two hours are over, Law's going to make this place explode or something".

"So we just gotta find a room sixty six?" I question, eyes searching for my Captain whom not only apparently changed Nami and Sanji back to normal, as well as Smoker and Tashigi, already, but he's also run off. God damn it! I wish he'd let me help him, the bastard. I get a nod. "Good. You guys go find it. I'm gonna go help Law".

"What?!" Ace places a hand on my shoulder, "Creed, you're not ready to fight someone like Vergo. Even if you are teaming up with Trafalgar, it'd be like teaming up with Nami," whom luckily is already gone looking for the room. But still. Ouch. Thanks for the support Ace, "Vergo's got Law's heart. He'll be of no use to you in fighting him. Plus he's a master of Bosushoku Haki; that's your worst Haki". I only have two forms you know, you dolt. "Come with me and help me find the room. Or at least let me go and help him".

I was going to open my mouth in protest at leaving Law just to go find some stupid room. However, as Ace offer to help Law, my eyes widen and I look at him incredulously. "You hate him".

"Yea well this is a do or die situation. Besides, if Vergo kills him, I can't fight him for you," Ace scoffs. His other hand takes my other shoulder and he spins me in the direction of a door. "Just go! If anything, look for Chopper and help him. He's the one in the most danger compared to the rest of us seeing as he's still badly hurt". He pushes me forcefully, making me stumble in my turned position, "Go!"

I stumble to a stop and turn to watch Ace go off. I bite my lip harshly, ignoring the blood my fang spills due to this action. "Ace!" He stops, and turns to me with a 'What? We don't have time' look. "Don't die yourself, got it? Come back in one piece!" I get a grin and a tip of his hat before he turns and runs down one way. I on the other hand go running down my own hallway both looking for Chopper and the room called R Sixty Six or whatever. It feels as though I'm running aimlessly for about forty five minutes later something very bad happens. What might this be you ask? Oh, I don't know. How about this poisonous gas following me?! "Soooonnnn of a Biiiiitch!" I scramble to run as fast as I can, determined not to die this day. How the hell is this stuff so fast?! I look over my shoulder as I make a jolting turn, finding it still hot on my tail. "Shit!" I come upon another hallway that's quickly filling with the stuff to my right- the way I was gonna go damn it- forcing me to take a left and allowing it to get closer to me. "Fuck this! My legs aren't long enough!" Seriously, they're not!

A large wave of fire and a quick burst of power is released from my person, and next thing I know I'm on all fours again. These hallways are more than big enough to allow me to turn and run full tilt if I need to. Which I do. Claws mercilessly dig into metal under them as I make a sudden and sharp left only to find one of the things I was looking for. My jaws open, "Chopper!" He's in his largest form or whatever trying to keep the doors closed. Behind those doors I hear the sound of banging and angry children voices. I stop and pant, having long since run out the purple gas for now.

His massive, compared to normal, head turns my way and his eyes widen, "Creed! Thank god!"

I stop and pant, watching as a black haired girl looks at me with wide and scared eyes, "You're not a monster a-are you?"

"No," I tell her with a wag of my nine tails, "My name is Creed. I'm a friend of Chopper's".

"Creed! I found out what the drug is that Caesar's been giving these kids! If they have more of it, their lives are at risk!" Chopper tells me.

My black lips purse before I move the two away from the door with two tails while a paw presses against the doors to keep them closed. This is more than enough to hold the kiddies off. Red fire dances around my paw, and soon enough envelopes the doors themselves. At Chopper's fearful gaze I assure, "This fire is only hot enough to leave burns, not really hurt them, if they keep on pressing against it. But since it's so cool, the doors will go back to normal in about five minutes. We need to get moving. Not only that, but the poisonous gas that's filling the building is sure to make its way here. Get on my back and I'll take care of the running. You two just make sure none of that candy is dropped".

"...Creed!" Chopper looks to me gratefully as I crouch and allow him and the girl whose name I didn't bother to ask for onto my black furred form.

"Yea yea, no crying now," I force a joke out of my jaws before standing and taking off like a fox out of hell. As soon as I'm up and moving, I'm focusing on finding the others. Finding where they stand in terms of the building. Sanji is with that Tashigi girl and the G-5 guys. Zoro is with Brook and some stranger. Law is...Done his fight it seems and is with Smoker and Luffy. Scratch that, Nami and Robin are with Sanji now. I don't even need my senses to tell me that. Why? Because the three of them are right in front of me. Claws dig into the metal as I'm forced to stop lest I run them over.

"Creed?!" Nami calls from below Chopper, the girl and I.

I lower my head to look at the girl with a single all red eyes. "Don't question, get on my back and hang on tight. Not only are enraged children on my tails, but so is that stupid cloud," my voice rumbles.

"It's Kyubbi!" One of the G-5 shouts out.

"Yes yes!" I snarl, ears falling flat onto my head. "And if you don't hurry and get on my damned back I'm going to either A: eat you, or B: leave you behind for the gas to eat! Take your pick!" I glare at him as others rush to climb onto my form. Ow damn it, don't pull the fur whoever did that. As soon as I figure everyone's on, I take off. Left. Right. Left. Right. Right. Straight! I bear my fangs in celebration upon entering the room everyone's been looking for, and look over my shoulder to find the still pretty enraged children still chasing me. Good. I look forward, seeing the end of the hallway. I burst through the opening but don't stop.

My eyes land on none other than Law and Luffy and some sort of oddly put together man, "Creed?" I hear Law question.

"No time! Druggy kiddies and evil killer gas coming our way! Grab on!" I shout as I pass him, not even waiting for a response. I do however feel multiple hands grab onto my fur on my sides. I feel tugging and pulling until new bodies are on my person. And as I go, I grab this hurt guy with a grunt and all nine of my tails so that he doesn't get left behind. I hear the angry cries of the children even as we exit the facility and I race my way to the dock where I met Law who knows how long ago. And skid to a stop at the sight before me, leaving behind the tunnel that I've run through.

I and my multiple passengers come to see is Franky fighting some fat guy and a girl in an apron and a red dress. The latter two look back at us and then to Caesar, whom has been knocked out all this time. What happened?

"...Should I do something?" I ask after a few pants.

"No," Nami assures. "Usopp and I will take care of this". She and the long nosed man dare to stand on my head as they fall into fighting stances. "Sorcery Clima Tact! Thunder ball!" The woman calls out. And as the fat one and the woman try to escape through the sky with Caesar being drug along.

A storm cloud appears above the trio, shocking them and knocking out the woman, as well as stunning the man. It's then that Usopp makes his move, shooting a pair of sea stone prison cuffs of all things at the gas-man that's now awake and moving.

"Looks like step one is complete," Law states with a long sigh as we watch the trio fall.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: God Damn It My Life Is Fucked Up**

The aftermath is simple for those who don't have to take care of enraged children. That's everyone save Law and myself. Actually wanting to help the children that I had trapped in a tall ring of white fire, one by one he would cut them apart and systematically take the chemical that was killing them from their systems. What would I do besides make sure those who remained didn't get away? Hold the kiddie down until Law actually started working. This for the most part meant that I had to stay in my Kyubbi form and pin them with either a toe or my tails depending on their size. It took a good while, and it wasn't until all the kids were done that I could become human again.

The fire ring as well as the fire that consumed me disperses as a human form replaces the Kyubbi one I was settled in for the passed number of hours. I smile up to my Captain, and use a strand of bandages on one of my arms to wipe the sheen of sweat on his forehead. "You did good, Law," I tell his battered form. "In both helping the kids and beating Vergo". Tired stormy eyes look down at me as I pull away from his forehead.

A hand finds my hip and the other finds my chin in order to pull me closer and tilt my head up respectively. "Do I get a reward?" He tiredly requests. I roll my eyes; he has energy to joke. That's good. But still I make no move to 'reward him other than a gentle pat on the shoulder as my secondary praise. A hand reaches for me before wrapping around one of my wrists and pulling to a certain battered frame tightly. "He's kissed you multiple times; I need to even the score," he tells me simply as I struggle with a questioning look in my eyes. Lips find my own without hesitation, making me gasp and my eyes widen at the sudden contact. Well, not sudden, but still surprising from someone like Law. A thrill of pleasure washes over my spine as he continues to lock lips with me, eventually coaxing me to kiss back for the last few seconds of a seven minute one sided make out session. His lips settle into a gentle smile before suddenly attacking my neck with harsh teeth. I gasp and bite back a moan as it's obvious what he's trying to do. A burst of white fire surrounds that spot, forcing him to back off before he actually can leave a mark. "What the hell Law!?" I growl, not at all pleased with what he just tried to pull.

I didn't burn him, luckily, as he moved away from the fire much too quickly for such a thing to happen. He had drawn away from my frame completely in reaction to the fire, "I've done my research. That's how foxes show their lovers that they belong to them. More specifically the males do that. I figured I'd do that because you, Creed, are mine".

I open my lips to show an annoyed snarl, "I'm not yours," if I had a tail, it'd be lashing back and forth, "I'm no one's property-"

"Yet".

"-_At all_," I correct, "We're not a couple just like Ace and I never were".

"I'm not giving up," Law ensures calmly.

I open my mouth to insist that he should. But I'm stopped by an enraged child's voice calling for Law to come and show his murderous face. "Sounds like Chopper isn't happy with you," I tell him.

"I don't care," he tells me tiredly as we make our way to see the reindeer. Said little doctor animal then goes so far as to call him a murderer again. In return, Law decides to tell the little doctor of what we had to do just in order to cure the children. Had Law of been anyone else, the operations would have all been failures. Even though Law falls into his serious self again as we come upon something unexpected, I smile. Luffy's managed to throw another one of his victory parties that are so common among his crew. "Straw Hat-ya!" Law calls to Luffy- whom is currently stuffing his face- as he sits down on a log, "We don't have time to party! It's time to go".

"Eh? Go?" Luffy mumbles through a full mouth. "Nah! We should party a bit more! We had a giant victory! Party till you can't party no more people!~" Lovable goof.

"I'm gonna go get us something to eat," I tell my Captain, earning me a grunt of acknowledgment.

I smile as Ace approaches me, a bowl in both his hands and his slightly beaten up form standing tall, "Hey," he greets with a smile. "You hungry?"

I beam up to him, flashing harmless fangs, "Starved".

"Well, here, I got you some food too," he graciously offers me a bowl of food that Sanji made in celebration of our victory. We sit in silence in order to stuff our faces before he speaks up again. "I'm still gonna fight him for you. You know that, right? I don't care if our crews are now allies. You belong with us. With _me_".

"Ace, no" I push against his stubborn statement, "Why can't you and he just let me be? I don't mind being single. And while I'm flattered that you both feel something for me, I don't want either of you to get into needless fights. You're both my good friends, and now as you said our crews are allies. Please don't start anything".

"Creed, it's obvious he likes you the same way I do. It's a guy thing for us to compete and try to win you over," Ace insists with a light growl, "I want you to be happy. He just wants to own you more than the average Captain does. I said it minutes ago but I'll say it again; you belong with the Straw Hats". He pauses, "I love you too much to let you be anywhere else. I'm sorry, I'm selfish...But I can't help it".

I hotly blush and drop my head. I really am flattered that they feel that way about me. But come _on_ at least let me have a say in it. He's right, he's being selfish...It is a swift assessment of my feelings that I do as I sit there and nibble at my soup for the time being. There's Law, handsome, charismatic, alluring, Law. Not only that but he's my Captain. We've spend so long- okay, not _that long_- couped up in the submarine of a ship of the Heart Pirates that it's brought along some sexual tension. And then there's the fact that he's simply my friend...That in itself adds to the collection of emotions I hold for him that call me to him. But then there's Ace. The man I saved just to save. The man I defied my Captain for. The man that trained with me for a year and a half. So kind and gentle yet so powerful. Manners of a prince, he's got his own kind of charm, he's a fire user like me, and again, there's the friendship that just draws me to him. I sigh. There's really no stopping this bullshit is there? Bullshit not only being the fact that I have two men that want me to love them back, but also the fact that all of my person is tempted to say, "Fine".

"I'm sorry?" Ace demands, "Talk louder". Again I mutter. "Come on Creed," his demand is a little bit less harsh- I think he may have been having a stare down against my Captain while I was thinking, "Just tell me please.

"If I can't stop either of you from trying to do as you please then...At least promise me that you won't kill him. I'll make him promise the same thing too," I say loud enough for him to hear.

Portgas D. Ace stares at me for a second as we sit next to one another on the ground, not even bothering with standing let alone trying to find a log or stumps to sit on. "You really mean that? You'll let us sort things out?" I nod. He grins, "I'll win, but I promise not to kill him. I wouldn't want to take your _friend_ away from you. I'll show you just how much I love you, Creed. Honest, he'll never see what's coming". I sigh but offer him a mile.

"Go ahead and try. When one of you finally does it, I'll be sure to tell you right away," this love triangle thing is bullshit. But...Like dad always said 'when life gives you bullshit, you use it to grow yourself a crop of food'.

Ace grins, "Excellent. Let the war begin then," he could have said 'game' but then again to him this isn't a game.

I nod before standing, "Come on, we should go tell Law," I leave my empty bowl where it is and find my Captain sitting not far from Smoker. Basically next to him in fact. However when Ace and I arrive, Law ignores the fellow Devil Fruit eater and shares a challenging glare with Ace before looking to me.

"What can I do for you, Creed-ya?" He casually questions, placing the spoon for his soup into his mouth, leisurely feeding himself with tired hands.

It is Ace who speaks, leaving me to have taken in a deep breath for no reason, "Listen up, Trafalgar. I know you like Creed, and I love her. She's agreed for us to compete for her heart so long as we don't kill one another. I won't kill you, but I'll definitely beat you. What do you say?" Well that was rather sweet and to the point, I was gonna re-cap everything that we said.

Law looks from me to Ace and then back to me, "Is this true?"

I nod once, "It's true".

"Very well," a cool and sadistic smile that fits him much too well spreads across his face. "May the best man win, Fire Fist-ya". He offers a hand, slender fingers slightly splayed and curled to form one half of a handshake. Ace is quick to take the hand firmly and shake it once. I watch and end up rolling my eyes as they already have a battle of hand strength by gripping one another's bones harder. However, the release is mutual. Eventually we do leave the island, taking the Sunny Go of course and going on our merry way. Luckily, Smoker agreed to take care of the children as well as leave us be for now. In the mean time, the party for the Straw Hats and Heart Pirates- all two of us of the latter- has gone from Punk Hazard to the ship on which we travel.

After the nonsense that was the issue of settling down on the ship, I sit between my Captain and my friend on the wood of the deck, each of them on either side of me. While Ace and I are completely relaxed, I can't help but realize that my Captain is still rather tense despite the whole ordeal of capturing Caesar is over. "Law," I smirk to him, "You telling me you're not up for a drink? Come now. It's just a little fun. Relax a little".

Law looks down to me and shakes his head, "No," he stands firm. "There's nothing in it for me".

"Now who said that?" I demand with a raised brow. "You need to relax. It's been a long day and you need to unwind," I pause. I've already given more than once to Ace before...Why not Law as well? "Trust me...I'll give you a nice massage as we go".

He raises a brow, "You can give massages?" Oh? Is he tempted by that?

I grin as Luffy pops up on Law's other side, throwing a friendly arm around my wannabe lover, "Sure can! She really gets in deep! Right Ace?"

Our eyes travel to the man who's already got two barrels of rum under both arms. Now why does that look familiar? Dark orbs look to me, then to Luffy, and then finally to Law where they become challenging. "Yup. Taught her myself. She gave me one every once in a while; got the perfect hands for it too".

Law's eyes narrow, "...Fine," he mutters lowly. "You owe me a massage the whole time you're not drinking," he tells me firmly.

"Aye aye, Captain," I smirk to him. However, just as we're setting up for the party, there's a rumbling under the ship, and suddenly it's tipping down. Farther down than it should be if it were simply going over a tall wave.

"Ahhhh! Tidal wave! Hang on everybody!" Usopp has the courtesy to freak out, hanging onto the railing of the Sunny Go.

"It's not a tidal wave you idiot!" Nami corrects the black haired man sternly, "It's way too big!"

Law in the mean time has a hold of not only me, but also the mast of the ship. "This is normal in the New World. It's called a Sea Slope".

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Usopp snaps out, not at all amused or believing Law's words.

"Woah-ho! I got this!" Luffy cheers, deciding that it'd be a good idea to test his skills against gravity. "This is awesome!" And there he goes, falling on backwards as gravity finally makes him its bitch.

"Luffy grab onto something damn it!" Ace commands from the other side of the mast. "Luf-," and there he goes, a bout of narcolepsy has struck with a vengeance again. And there he goes, rolling out of his spot. Gravity has a thing against the brothers it seems.

"Damn it Luffy! Ace!" I snap. "Law, please keep a good hold of me will you?"

"You're not going anywhere," Law states simply.

I nod and lash my hands out, fire of a dark gold color following my command as I reach to for the men's bodies. For Tashigi it was red in order to still burn her, with this fire being a dark gold, it won't harm them at all. Around Luffy's neck- good thing he's rubber- and around Ace's waist go the whips, I growl as gravity hates me and really wants these guys in the ocean. Why do so many of us have devil fruit abilities?! Damn it!

"Quatro Fluer!" I hear a low alto voice call out from somewhere that's not in front of me and two hand grab each of the men- Luffy by his shirt and Ace by his wrist. Thank you Robin.

A few moments later, we find ourselves on steady sea again, and I sigh. "That was stupid," I glare at the water. "Stupid ocean".

"It'll get pissed again if you glare at it," Zoro tells me casually from his relaxed position. I myself am beside Law as he leans against the Sunny Go's railing; Ace is on my other side, still asleep. "So stop". There's a teasing smirk on his lips not so different from Law's own, his single open eye looking my way.

My eyes go to meet Zoro's gaze and I roll my ember eyes, "Feh," I scoff and wave him off, "You sound like you're experienced in that category".

"I'm normally the one who saves Captain Stupid over there," he jabs a thumb at Luffy who has perched himself on the Sunny Go's lion head.

I can't help but laugh and shake my head, "So I've seen," that's true. The party has turned simply into the lot of us relaxing in different spots on the ship. The day is coming to an end, and the sun is painting a beautiful sight by making the sea crimson and painting the sky a blaze.

Suddenly I hear a beautiful sound enter the air, the sound of a calm violin closing the day. And it's not until I see an obviously happy and calm Brook playing towards the helm of the ship, do I realize just what he's playing. A song every good pirate knows; myself included. I can't help but to relax by laying down and close my eyes before letting out a low soprano tune.

"Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,  
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,  
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,

Going to deliver Binks' Sake!  
Following the sea breeze! Riding on the waves!  
Far across the salty depths! The merry evening sun!  
Painting circles in the sky as the Birds Sing

Farewell to the harbor, To my old hometown  
Lets all sing out with a don! As the ship sets sail  
Waves of gold and silver dissolve to salty spray  
As we all set sail to the ends of the sea

Going to deliver Binks' Sake!  
We are pirates sailing through the Sea!  
The waves are our pillows, The ship our roost  
Flying the proud skulls on our flags and our sails

Now comes a storm through the far-off sky  
Now the waves are dancing, Beat upon the drums  
If you lose your nerve this breath could be your last  
But if you just hold on, The morning sun will rise

Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,  
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,  
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,  
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,

Going to deliver Binks' Sake!  
Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the night!  
Waving our goodbyes, we'll never meet again!  
But don't look so down, For at night the moon will rise!

Going to deliver Binks' Sake!  
Let's all sing it with a don! A song of the waves  
Doesn't matter who you are, Someday you'll just be bones  
Never-Ending, Ever-wandering, Our funny Traveling tale!

Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,  
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,  
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,  
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho".

When the song is over, my ember eyes open up to see a nearly fully set sun, and they trail over the deck to see many a pirate asleep. I look over my shoulder to see that Law is awake, however he's taken to laying down next to me, his blade at his side casually and hands being used as pillows. There is a small calm smile on his lips. I then look to find Brook giving me a small bow and an obvious smile despite the fact that he doesn't have lips to turn up. I find Robin also awake, as well as Zoro. But other than that, everyone else is asleep.

"I didn't know that you could sing," Law murmurs, "You have a good voice. I'm glad I got to hear it before Dressrosa".

I purse my lips, "You make it sound like you're going to die if something goes wrong".

"I very well might," he honestly tells me. "I plan on going after Doflamingo and make him pay for what he did to me thirteen years ago even if it costs me my life".

"What?!" I demand and turn my torso to look at him better. "Don't you dare say something like that!" I glare into his orbs, ready to not stand for his usual, 'I don't take orders well' shit.

However, he doesn't give me that as he looks at me, "You seem surprised. Don't be. I mean what I say".

"You're not going off and dying, Captain," I snarl, now fully facing him. I take his shoulder in my hands and shake him back and forth, not caring that he's my captain, to get my point across, "If you end up getting beaten, even if you do fight him, I'll come to save you".

"You shouldn't. In fact, you won't be able to. I have a job for you that will make you unable to," Law states.

"And if I refuse to do this job?" I sneer.

"Not only will you make me unhappy, but you'll also be putting the world in more danger than it needs to be," it's here that his voice drops into a whisper. "Two years ago at the war on Marineford, Edward Newgate- AKA Whitebeard, a Yonko- died in trying to save Portgas D. Ace from execution as any good father should. I have been informed...That the Gura Gura no Mi has emerged again two years after Whitebeard's death. And that Doflamingo has it in his hold. I know him. I know what he's going to do. He's going to have a tournament, with that fruit as the prize. All the neighboring kingdoms are lead by not so good people. If anyone besides an ally of ours gets that fruit, the owner of that warrior will immediately try to take over many parts of the world- the entire world even. You nor I, nor most of the members of the Straw Hat Pirates can eat that fruit as we've already eaten one and by eating that one we will die. However, if we win that fruit...We can hide it away forever or give to someone to eat that deserves it. Syn possibly". He pauses. "I need you to do your utmost to get that fruit. Do understand? Even if you have to go against Fire Fist-ya or Straw Hat-ya. You must try to win against them".

I stare at him for a long time before stating, "You won't let me say no, will you".

"I'm counting on you to at least try to get that fruit," Law tells me seriously. "No matter what happens to me. You have to honestly try to win the competition that I know Doflamingo will start".

"...Why me? Why not Luffy? If he won it, it'd still be in good hands," I question his motive.

"Because if you're there, and I end up fighting Doflamingo, and he targets you, he'll find out that you're a weakness to me," Law tells me, a large tattooed hand on my cheek. "I love you, Creed-ya. If Doflamingo realizes this, he will target you and you will be a distraction. I cannot have distractions. Understood?"

I bite my lip hard, both fangs dipping into the skin and making blood make its way down my chin. He loves me... Why does my heart waver when I hear that? I bite harder, ignoring the blood. Until finally, I pull my fangs from my lower lip and press our frames together in a tight hug. This lingers for about a minute before I pull away. "You are my Captain and my friend, I refuse to loose you to some guy who dresses like a pink bird and has some mental issues". I pause, "I promise to try and get the fruit. However, you have to promise to try to come back. To the Heart Pirates, and I. Deal?"

He still nods, "Deal". All is silent for a moment before he reaches forward with his free hand which goes to my hair. It's there that he takes a hold of the hair tie, and with a simple and swift jerk breaks it and throws it into the ocean. My hair falls down in a tumble of graceful waves, a crimson hue to its blackness under the light of the half moon. "I like it better when your hair is down," he tells me. I make a special note of that, and decide that for him I'll keep it down.


	16. NOTERANT

So, Creed's adventure has been going on for a little while now. Whether any of you realize it or not, but she and her adventure are a lot older than they seem. This is due to the fact that I've pre-written every chapter in the story up until the current happenings in the anime. Granted, I haven't worked on her story in my document writer in a while as I'm all caught up and need to wait for more episodes to come out to the point where I can just write for multiple chapters on end.

Never the less, I feel that I must thank everyone for being so kind as to love the story in the first place. :D Everyone who has followed the story is great in my eyes. Those that have reviewed are just as great. Although I write the story of Creed mainly for my selfish self, you guys play a large part in keeping me going. After all, I could just keep her story to myself. However, knowing that there are other people out there who like Creed and want to read more about her and her life makes me want to allow you all to follow her to the very end of the line.

However, not everything that is glitters is gold. Earlier today, I got my first flamer. And while it wasn't anyone I can point out- it was a guest- and though it was only one person, I feel that I must point something out right away and state it for all to realize.

Creed is not a Marry Sue, as this person so kindly supposed her to be. She is a POWER CHARACTER. A Marry Sue, as far as I know, is depicted as being the following:

Incredibly powerful- the character is automatically famous and strong to the point of being able to defeat anyone in her path. Her enemies are some of the strongest and most cruel beings, and she stands to defeat them.

Incredibly beautiful- This one is self explanatory. She is more beautiful than all the other female characters in the anime/manga/show/whatever. All the men around her want her, they fall in love with her, they _need_ her. And so on and so forth. And of course she realizes herself to be beautiful, and can either flaunt it or play it down. However either way, that does not mean that she doesn't have 'all the right curves in all the right places' as well as a perfect personality

All knowing- this basically brings the typical Mary Sue together. She is godlike in her knowledge and her power. Meaning that she can come up to the main character of the anime and simply defeat him with a flick of her finger.

No _real_ history- This being that the person practically just popped up into the world and became well known or did whatever she did.

This here is what the Guest said to me: Ic:This is a Mary Sue character. She is unnaturally powerful, with the Kitsune fruit, and her stubbornness is also one of the popular characteristics to make a 'strong, beautiful' woman. Many of the Mary Sues are not perfect as in coming from a royal family, but have a unnatural quality, like this girl, which makes everyone feel sympathy for being a slave, and therefore liked by everyone,

To me, when I read this, I thought of them just going down the three point list that I've mentioned that is the basics of a Marry Sue and checked them all off without even going through with the next chapters (as this appeared as a review for chapter 1). I'll say it again: Creed is a POWER CHARACTER which in all due respect is similar to a Marry Sue in that she's very strong and very powerful. However, with a Mary Sue, there's no _reasoning_ behind why the girl is so strong. With a Power Character, there _is_. Never the less, I will go through the points of the basics for a Marry Sue and oppose them as they honestly are. I'll be backing up my statements with known facts, rather than just a glimpse.

Creed indeed is very strong. In fact, it doesn't take me long to mention that she is a Super Nova, and I give no real reasoning behind it. However, who ever liked a story where the character's powers were out right explained from day one? No. Even in the actual anime of One Piece, everyone's pasts creep up on them. Ace wasn't introduced as Luffy's brother until the Alabasta ark. Luffy's past seemed like ponies and butterflies for the most part up until the War when he went to save Ace. Robin's history came out of no where at Water Seven. Creed has been given a basic history like Luffy has via the flashback chapter I wrote. However, in due time I'll be digging deeper and showing you more of her past.

Yes, I will admit that Creed is very beautiful, and multiple men seem to have feelings for her. Law has feelings for her, Ace has feelings for her, Lyst has feelings for her, and hell, Zoro was pretty pissed at her and Ace that one time for no apparent reason. However I will say this _now_. Only Law and Ace honestly love her. Lyst and Zoro have more of a...Lust if not very powerful respect for her and how she is built.

Creed _is not_ all knowing. She doesn't walk up to Rayleigh and say 'hey! I know you!' instead she's ignorant like everyone else. And while she did know of Law and Kidd and Luffy, it's because of her similar ranking. How could a Super Nova _not_ know about her fellow Super Nova? Granted, Luffy didn't, but he's Luffy and a bit on the slow side outside of fighting and protecting. All her knowledge prior to actually meeting Law was based on rumors, the same goes for Luffy and the others.

She _does_ have a history, and I gave you all a taste of it in earlier chapters. I will be digging deeper into her past once the time is right. However she is _not_ without a past. Simple as that. As mentioned before, many characters' pasts are not given up right away. We had to wait _forever_ to even learn more of Luffy's past. Sure, by the time of the war we knew that Luffy was the grandson of Garp and the adoptive brother of Ace, but who the hell knew that he was the son of Revolutionary Dragon of all people? He's the main character and only snipits are given away. This is how Creed's past will be done. A c;iehere and there

**Please** keep in mind that I'm not yelling at anyone who has been so kind as to follow Creed's journey. No no, the lot of you are wonderful people as I said before. I simply felt like I had to rant a little bit. It was only one person, but calling Creed a Marry Sue is a big no-no when barely anything is known about her. If you have any thoughts or concerns about this large rant, feel free to PM me; I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

I know a lot of you are waiting on the next chapters. They'll be coming out on Monday or Tuesday of next week; it depends on when I find the time to post them


	17. Chapter 17

_Okay so, unfortunately I hadn't realized how close to the end of my prewritten chapters I was. Therefore this'll be the last chapter for a little while. Fear not! The story isn't over, it's just on a temporary hiatus until the anime gets far enough ahead of me. I know, I know I'm an ass for doing this to you guys, but I PROMISE there will be all sorts of chapters coming up in the next few weeks if not even days! _

* * *

Chapter 16: Dressrosa

We've finally landed on Dressrosa. To be honest, it's a beautiful place. It reminds me of a lot of places in the South Blue. Flowers everywhere half the time and extravagant towns and beaches. The people here will probably be lively and full of spirit. The women breath taking, the men the same, and everything lively. That's what I expect. A wind blows over the lot of us as we stand on shore now, most of the group looking around to see what there is to see even though we're behind cliffs and on a small strip of sand. The wind tussles my up high hair and I watch it dance. Maybe I should try something new...Just because. So with a simple movement I pull the hair tie out, run my hands through my hair a few times and I'm ready to go. It feels kind of weird to not have my hair up but...I don't mind it actually. I know Law likes it when my hair is down, however, I wonder if Ace will feel the same way? Why does it matter if either of them like it down...It actually feels nice.

Law crouches down as he pulls out a map, opening it up and laying it out for the rest of us to see. When Ace asked what it was and he was given an answer, he scoffed. What? It's not that badly drawn. Geeze, give Syn some slack. "We're here," he points to the lower part of the picture of the island, "And we need to get Caesar to Green Bit over here". His finger slides up and to the left to a little circle with an arrow pointing to it that says 'Green Bit' as well as has some sort of...I'm pretty sure that's a bridge connecting it to Dressrosa. "That is our job, Caesar Delivery Team," which turned out to be himself, Robin, and Usopp. "Sunny Defense team, you will simply take care of making sure no one tries to take your ship," Law states to Nami, Mononosuke, Brook and Chopper. "The job of the Factory Destroying team is to find and do just that to the SMILE factory as soon as possible".

I nod, watching Law move his finger from this way and that along the map, "Got ya," my eyes narrow as I remember the personal mission I've been given by my captain about the fruit that'll be up for grabs by the winner of a sure to come competition. I look around to see the comprehension of the others only for my jaw to drop. "Where the hell are Luffy, Sanji and Zoro?!"

"They disappeared," Ace states bluntly. "I tried stopping them but you know how Luffy gets when he smells food". He sighs and offers me a smile, "We'll catch up to them though". Damn right we will.

I nod and then turn to walk with Ace through the pass. However, I do stop and walk back to Law after asking Ace to wait for a second. When Law sees me, I make sure that no one is near. Luckily, Robin and Usopp are getting Caesar from the ship leaving Law alone. "You make sure you stay alive for the crew. Got it?" I tell him sternly. "I know you don't like taking orders from anyone, especially a subordinate. But I'm your friend and I don't want to find out that you died on the lot of us. So, please don't go dieing on us". Not only that, but then I'll have to hunt for the crew and the sub...And then who will be Captain?

Law is silent for a moment, meeting my ember orbs unwaveringly, "I'll try my best to come back alive, Creed". His words hold no promise to come back, but the promise to try.

"Are you coming Creed? We're gonna lose the others if you keep on talking," An impatient voice speaks up. My eyes break from Law's storm gray ones and I grin to my lover before leaving Law with a wave.

"Alright alright," I playfully sigh out before making it to Ace's side. Our hands brush as we walk once, twice, the third time he takes my hand. I look his way and raise a brow. Why's he holding my hand. Upon looking at my face he grins and gives my hand a squeeze. Feeling gracious, I let him hold my limb until we make it to the actually town. That's when I slip from his hold. We're not a couple; I don't need people thinking we are...I think...Wait _no_, I _know_. "They're in a pretty crowded place. My guess is a food place," I ponder aloud out of the blue. Seriously, that's probably what took Luffy away. Sanji left for the ladies more than likely, and Zoro probably just followed so they- *cough* he *cough*- wouldn't get lost.

Upon arrival to the town, I can't help but stop and stare at the sights before me. While the buildings are as I figured they'd be, based off of those in the South Blue and being made of either a sand mixture or bricks or wood, everything else is different. Where as the lively people on most of the South Blue islands are lively with course music that is more for unorganized dancing, the music that is here makes me want to dance and clap my hands. It's mostly guitar music and rhythmic clapping, a voice here and there, but other than that there's nothing to make of it. The smell of food that constantly dances on the wind as well tempts my nose. It's unlike anything I've smelt let alone made myself. And I can't help but wonder if I'll have time to at least sample anything and everything that I can while we're here...However I doubt it. What surprises me the most is not the food nor the music. Nor is is simply the way the people dress, talk walk, or how despite the fact that Doflamingo suddenly- as far as they know- quit the Warlords, everyone is happy and seem to be going on through life as they would any other day.

Instead, what surprises me the most is, "Are those toys moving and talking all on their own?" I question the man at my side. "...And are the normal people not even bothered by this at all?" Seriously, how does that even work?

Ace was going to open his mouth to answer me when a literal doll woman suddenly walked up to us, a smile on her prettily made face. "Welcome to Dressrosa where the sights are beautiful and the woman even more breath taking!" Oh, that sounds like Heaven to Sanji. He better not fuck up. "You two look lost. Are you visiting?" She doesn't really wait for an answer as she brings a plastic hand to Ace's chest. I feel a wave of anger take over me as my chest tightens with the emotion. I don't know _why _I care that he's getting hit on, let alone by a doll, but apparently I do. I feel fire dancing under my skin. Bitch, remove your hand before I melt it. Would I feel the same way if it were my Captain being hit on? Wait. Stop caring me! Damn it all! "It looks like you are. You seem confused by what you see; that's not uncommon. But yes, all we toys are living and breathing as though we were human. And we're treated as such in return. This place is our beloved home, the only place that is likely to treat our kind equally". As she speaks, like the flirtatious woman she seems to be made after, she presses her false body against Ace's broad chest and clasps fake fingers behind his neck. I'm going to turn her into nothing but ashes of melted plastic. Fucking slut. Okay brain, you _really_ need to stop putting stuff where it shouldn't be. "However, it'd probably be best if you dressed like us. That way you can get the most of your visit here. There's a clothing store down the street and to your left. Take your lady friend and get her a dress, and get yourself a suit and then enjoy yourselves!" It's then that she leaves us out of no where, a smile still on her face.

"...Did I just get felt up by a doll?" Ace raises a brow to me.

"Yes...And I just felt like melting a doll," I glare as the doll woman walks away, her fake hips swaying this way and that. When she's gone, I glare at where she was.

Ace grins down at me, and tugs on my hand as to make me face him completely. "Were you just made jealous by a doll?" He chuckles out.

"Ye- I mean _no_," I mutter out lowly. "I wasn't jealous, I was annoyed by how much of a slut she acted to be, is all. The look on Ace's face tells me that he doesn't believe me. Hell, I don't believe me. Ugh.

Ace barks out a bout of laughter, making me send him a look that I feel is a mixture of a pout and a glare at the same time. He continues to laugh until his forehead is touching my own, his dark orbs meeting my bright ones. What's he doing? "I love you," he whispers to me before stealing a quick but lingering kiss. I jump back in surprise as his lips touch my own, lips tingling and face bright with surprise and heat.

"What was that for? We're not a thing, Ace," I stumble out.

"No, but we could be. But still, so long as you're free I can more openly admit my love for you. If you end up choosing Trafalgar, then I'll still try just as hard. It'll just have to be more subtle. I'll win your love one way or another," he grins out.

"We should get disguises; we're both famous pirates in a place ruled by the man we're fucking with," I change subjects with a fluttering heart. Is it reacting to Ace's words or the thought of Law and I being lovers? I shake my head quickly back and forth. No time to get side tracked. That said, I walk forward, making my way through the random clumps of people- be they gathered around dancing women, food shops or something in between.

Upon entering, we're greeted by all sorts of elegant clothing, women's on the left and men's on the right. I sigh, blanching as most of the stuff here has skirts and dresses. It's gonna be hard to find myself some pants to wear. I move forward to head on over to my gender's side when a hand is placed on my shoulder, stopping me from my advance. I look to the man behind me with a patient but curious look.

Ace offers me a sloppy smile, something that I've always liked about him. That kind of smile just fits him perfectly; just like a broad one fits Luffy, a smirk fits Zoro, and a mocking smile fits Law. "You should get a dress. You'd look good in one, and it looks like they're more common than even skirts around here".

"You gotta be kidding me," I blanch out, "I'm gonna find some pants and a shirt and that's final. "I can't fight in a dress, let alone a skirt if I need to".

"Actually, I saw a couple women dancing on the way here," of course he would, "It was really easy for them to move around their legs it looked". He offers me another sloppy smile. "Go look good, turn heads, make Law jealous for not being around to see you in a dress". What's the last one have to do with anything? Still, I can't help but sigh and shake my head as I walk...I guess I can try on a dress or two before finding some pants.

Dress...Dress...Dress...Dress dress dress dress. Skirt. Sk-Dress. Ugh. Where the hell are are the pants and simple shirts!? I glare at the fourth rack that I go through for something to wear, shaking my head at basically everything I see. Why can't women here wear pants like normal people? Not only that, but I realized, during my shopping, that my wajari are really getting worn out. I need new shoes. And what can I not find? Nothing with a medium height heal at the least! Damn it! After about twenty minutes of useless looking, I decide, "Fine. I'll wear a damn dress". At least there's shorts under these insanely flippy skirts as I've seen with all the other dresses I've turned down. It's not until I stop looking for something in black that I find something that's relatively good looking. I purse my lips before finally picking it up off of the rack and heading for the women's fitting room. There, I lock the door behind me and start to undress for this rather reluctant try out. I can't stop pursing my lips as I remove my pants, socks, wajari and finally my shirt from my person. I feel awkward getting undressed in a room that's not my own, but press this feeling down before picking up the dress. As I slip it on, I can't help but feel a shiver of surprise roll through my form.

In front of me is a woman with long black hair down to her knees with a lovely crimson tint to it and just as lovely a gentle wave here and there. The figure's build is slim, but not sickly so. Instead, it is toned and covered with muscle that shows that not only is it active, but it is strong. The red dress, whose skirt has three layers that allow to give it a flowy look as well as allow it to flare out well when spun or moved quickly, is longer in the back than in the front but the back does not drag nor get in the woman's way via being stepped on. The front shows strong slightly tanned legs that gladly are complemented by the color. The rest of the skirt, from upper thigh up, is tight and form fitting, coming into a v-neck halter top therefore leaving the woman's shoulders bare. The back is open to show lovely lightly tanned skin, and only closes as to keep the butt from being shown and closes up in a gentle U formation at the middle of the small of her back. Ember eyes meet their reflection and I can't help but blush at myself. Damn I look good...Who knew the color of blood worked so well one me? I sigh. I really don't like wearing dresses but...This one just looks so nice. I sigh. Damn it. I'll get it.

And so out the fitting room and to where the shoes wait for me I go. The picking of the shoes is much easier to do, seeing as I'm looking for black ones of which there's a large variety to pick from. However, my choice is quickly made, the heels being of a decent height and nicely strapping around my ankles but doing nothing more. I sigh as I stand in my new choice of shoes. I don't know how long I'm gonna wear this dress, seeing as I'm going to be a gladiator when the competition opens, but I might as well as look good, no? I'm allowed to be a girl sometimes after all. I run my hand through my hair lightly, getting rid of knots that dare make my hair less neat, and then decide to look for Ace. That is, after my purchase has been made. What? I don't ever go anywhere without bringing money with me. This is why.

I end up standing in an aisle between the two gender sides, looking around for Ace to see if he's all set to go. There's a gentle tap on my shoulder, and a rather familiar voice speaks up. "Excuse me miss. I'm looking for my friend. She's beyond beautiful, about your height with your hair color and your body figure".

"Good thing I'm her then, huh?" I tilt my head as I turn to look at Ace straight in the eyes. As soon as I do, I see his jaw drop and his face become a light pink color. Me? I'm blushing hotly. Why? Because. I see Ace shirtless every day; shirts aren't his thing and I don't blame him. However, what he's wearing is a beautiful tease. The long sleeved red button up shirt stays open, the collar popped over the black jacket he wears over the shirt. His beaded necklace remains on his person, and in order to make himself less noticeable his hat remains off and dandling around his neck by the strings and therefore resting on his back. His pants and boots are black. Over all the attire is simple, but he looks amazing in it. I wonder how Law would look in a suit? I can only imagine that he'd choose something a bit more closed but still no less flattering. My eyes imagine the man standing in a nice black suit, a yellow undershirt and gray vest with black slacks and shoes standing next to Ace. This vision is against my will, but it causes me to become warmer in the face. I only manage out the words of, "And it looks like we match". I get no answer as he continues to stare. "Ace?" Still no answer, "Ace?" Let's try this one more time. "ACE!" I'm lucky that this time he's out of whatever daze he was in. I watch as he shakes his head upon snapping out of the daze, "You okay?"

"You...," he tries. There's a pause, "You...You look amazing. No...Beyond amazing. Stunning. Beautiful. Breath taking," Ace tells me. He meets my gaze, "I...Can't hold back. I'm sorry" What's he not so sorry about?

I raise a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?" I let out a gasp as he takes one of my hands and pushes me away with it. Naturally I step away, and when he pulls me in, the momentum causes me to spin into his form. This results with me against his chest his arms wrapped around me tightly as he rests his head on my shoulder.

"Just what it sounds like," he tells me. "I want to kiss you into oblivion...If not more". If not...More? I blush. He releases me as he speaks. However as I make to step away, I'm spun around and there's a pair of lips slammed onto my own. My eyes widen and not only does a thrill of surprise, but also of pleasure run up my spine and through the rest of my body. When I realize what's going on, Ace kissing me that is, I kiss back with fervor. My body won't let me do otherwise. The kiss is just so..._Intense_ that it draws me in to join the motions of his lips. It's about ten minutes later when we separate and my lips are swollen. "We should go find Luffy now," he tells me. I

"O-okay," I manage to get out, blushing from the intensity of that little make out session. I...Can't believe I just did that! What the hell would Law do if he knew I did that?! Damn it, why does it matter?!

Seeing as out of the two of us, my Kenbunshoku Haki is the best, I'm the one who tracks down Luffy, knowing his will the best out of everyone else there. Upon entering, a young woman approaches us.

She smiles at us in greeting, "Table for two?"

"Actually," Ace answers, our arms long since around one another's waists, "That table right there. Those guys are our friends; can we join them?"

"Of course!" The girl nods out and motions for us to follow her through the tables leading us to the others. "Sirs, two of your friends have come to join you," she tells the others as a waiter so kindly pulls two chairs up for us to sit in so that I'm in between Luffy and Ace.

"Eh?" Luffy intones as I sit next to him after tucking my dress under my butt so that it stays smooth and unwrinkled. "I know Ace but...Where's Creed?"

"You're an idiot," Zoro tells Luffy from said rubber-man's other side. His single open eye is glued to me from behind the sunglasses he wears, "She's sitting right next to you".

Luffy jumps out of his seat in surprise, pointing at me wildly, "You're Cr-" the swordsman comes to my rescue, covering his captains mouth and punching him over the head.

"Idiot! Creed's famous too! Don't say her name!" Zoro hisses out.

Sanji in the mean time is across from me, a large heart in his eye, "You look wonderful!~" I can't help but smile in thanks.

"You look super!" Franky agrees.

Zoro's eye still lingers on my form, "He's right. You really do look good in that". That's saying something, seeing as Nami and Robin dress the way they do and yet I've never heard Zoro say anything.

"Thanks...Can we eat now? I'm starving". I beam to them before questioning. I may have had breakfast but...Walking in heels takes a lot of energy".

Our stay three is not uneventful of course, seeing as the food is beyond good and of course Luffy had to make a big deal of that. Not only that, but a blind man of all things has gathered a crowed of amazed people as he played a roulette game and continuously won. That was until a group of thugs chased the honest people away and began to play the blind man like a violin. It wasn't until the last round that Luffy decided to step in and tell the truth, saying that the blind man was right and that the little ball landed on white. This of course angered the thugs, and they attempted to attack Luffy only for the blind man to seemingly accidentally trip one of them up. This whole time, I can't get over the massive amount of will this man has. It feels like a vast ocean, something that I've only come upon when near Luffy, Ace or Law. Not only that, but the man reveals himself to be a devil fruit eater after promptly sending the thugs through the floor by using...Gravity...? Odd. However, our stay wasn't long as well. After the blind stranger left, something stole Zoro's sword, leaving the moss head to go after whatever it was- apparently a fairy that, while nothing but a myth in most places, are believed in on this island- and Sanji to chase after him so that he doesn't get lost. Luffy and Franky then left themselves, saying that they wanted to do something and therefore left Ace and I on our own to pay for the bill. We decided to dine and dash simply because that was easier.

I told Ace of what the prize will be for the gladiator fight. The very fruit Ace's 'father' ate that made him so powerful, according to Law's sources. This of course made Ace want to enter the fight as well, even though Luffy and I were already in there and practically had the game in the palm of our hands- as far as I was concerned. However, even though I assured Ace that we'd win the fruit- or at least try our damn best- he didn't take that assurance enough and decided that he should enter as well. When I asked why he wanted so badly enter despite the assurances, he told me that if he were to get the fruit- win it- he'd be able to convince Luffy to head to Marco- for whom he apparently has a vivre card- and give the fruit to them. That, in turn, would release Ace of the self imposed blame for Whitebeard's death. So, upon making it to a desk towards one of the entrances of the building, we signed false names in order to enter. We were still supposed to remain under the radar after all. Therefore, I entered as Cross. Unknown to all but myself, that's my middle name. Kakusare Cross Creed. Say that three times fast, heh. Ace, being unable to think of a name for himself, got the permission to use my father's name: Ichigo. So long as he did my dad's name good that is.

I sigh as I look over my- again- new attire. I'm not the biggest fan of it, metal's not something I really like to wear. However, I can't fight in a dress. Where I currently stand could be considered a basement, seeing as there's a ceiling above me made of stone, dirt and wood, and there are support pillars around me. And just why am I basically in a basement of all things? Because I like being under ground. Feh. Kidding.

After entering the underground area and finding the dressing room, we again got changed. This time, I dress in armor. Simple and light, but it works. Light, chain mail in toughness but stretchy and form fitting like elastic, pants cover my legs all the way down to my feet. Over my feet is a pair of metal boots whose rims are lower in the back than in the front, and who come up to cover my knees in the front and sides protectively in three spikes. Around my waist is something of a belt that holds up a metal skirt that stops at mid thigh, the belt having a metal piece on it being simply a pair of wings. I leave my hands and arms bare. A simple breast plate that literally only covering my boobs, that section of my back, and it dips down into a point that covers over my solar plexus. It's held up by nothing but my bust and two thin straps that, on top of my shoulders, lay spikes. The metal that covers me is mostly a dark color, however the spikes around my knees, the wings on my belt, the thin markings on my skirt, and the markings on my breast plate are all light colored metal. To keep it from being pulled or having to be cut, I braid my hair into a single braid that trails down my back elegantly. Ace himself simply has returned to a pair of black shorts. Other than that, he wears nothing.

After all that, Ace and I finally track down Luffy, finding him in the changing room- how is it, that he get there before us, but gets changed after us?- and talking to someone. We round the corner, of the room, and I raise a brow a the sight of the women laying on the ground, blissful looks on their faces. Why?

"Lucy!" I call out, seeing the name on his back. God, who the hell came out with that name? Luffy's bearded face looks over his shoulder, and a wide grin spreads a cross his face upon seeing us. On my hip is my own tag, giving my name and section as well as number. I'm in block A. "There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Eh?" Luffy tilts his head, curious.

"I should have known you would be still changing," Ace states with a casual chuckle, holding one of those stereotypical confident airs about him. "You're taking forever; you'll miss your fight if you're not careful".Not true, the boy's in block C and Ace is in block B.

"Oh ho! I didn't know you guys were entering too!" Luffy beams out, "This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought!" He's not bothered by that fact at all. Then again, neither am I.

It is then that the blonde Luffy had been talking to speaks up. I have to admit he's rather good looking. A muscular build, eyes the bluest I've seen save for the fishman I burnt to nothingness by the end of my fight on Fishman Island when everything went crazy. His blond hair is long and flowing, giving my own hair a run for its money, his skin fair and well cared for. "Friends of yours, Lucy?"

"Yea!" Luffy nods. "This is-

"Ichigo," Ace interrupts. He offers the blonde man a hand to shake, which he does. "It's a pleasure to meet you".

"You as well my good fellow," the handsome blonde nods out. His blue eyes travel to myself and a bright smile spreads across his features. "May I have the name of this beauty here?" He stands from where he was sitting and then goes on to kneel before me and offer me the red rose that had been twirling in his fingers.

Luffy tries again. "Sure! This is-" I don't give him a chance in the slightest however.

"My name is Cross," I tell him, greetingly. I don't take the flower and I watch as he stands to his feet to smile down at me. I can see that curiosity in those blue eyes of his.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful woman," the blonde tells me, "My name is Cavendish. What block are the three of you in?"

I decide that I'll answer first. "I'm in-"

"Will the contestants of Block A please head into the ring! We are about to begin!"

"That's me," I offer the men around me a grin before turning. "Lucy, Ichigo. I have to tell you now; I will be killing in this fight. I know neither of you like that thought, but it has to be done". That, and I need a good fight. It's just like Fishman Island all over again. I'm barely containing my excitement. I make my way through the halls with the other competitors, ignoring jests from the large men that I walk among. I believe I'm one of the only women in this whole thing. We step into the ring, walking over metal bridges, and stand at the ready as the announcer explains what must happen in order to win. It's going to be a battle royal with one winner and one winner only. Killing is fine, but knock outs will do as well. Getting knocked out of the ring is also how you can lose. That said, the battle begins.

It's not surprising that the number of men that come at me is as big as it is. After all, I'm one of the smallest people here, save for maybe one or two women that are also in the competition. And I'm a woman. Women are notorious for being weaker than men in anything physical. However, every single one of these men is in my current range of haki. That means I know exactly what each of them is going to do against me before they can even begin to do it. Their attacks compared to me are slow and boring as I systematically take down one after another. Hands are shoved through unprotected stomachs this way and that, coating my arms and hands in blood. Law would be proud. My armor soon enough joins in being covered in blood, as more and more men want to take me down. They try to double, even quadruple, team me. However, none of them are fast enough to get at me. It doesn't take long for man after man to be either taken down or simply thrown to the weird fish that circle the platform I stand on. When my portion of the platform is clear, I stop and watch as men of all sizes and strengths attempt to take down one god damn strong man. He wears a paper bag on his head, the upside down words of Happy Store written on it. According to the announcer his name is Mr. Store. Weirdo.

"And there you have it folks! The winner is the mysterious man known as-" the announcer begins.

"Yo!" I snap out loud and clear, "I'm still here! He's not a winner until I'm out of the ring or until I'm dead!" And neither are going to happen.

"What's this?! I'm sorry folks! I hadn't seen Cross in Mr. Store's shadow! Literally! Let the match continue!" The announcer shouts out, and the crowd gladly cheers.

"Weeeehahahahahaha!" My last enemy laughs out as he looks down at me. His hand goes to his face, and tears off the bag on his face showing himself to be.

"I don't believe it! It's Jesus Burgess! A member of the Blackbeard Pirates!" The announcer screams out in surprise. The people are silent until...Cheering. These people are cheering for a monster.

I know well who Burgess is. He's, as said, a member of the Blackbeard Pirates. That means that he's a follower of Marshall D. Tech, the man who set up Ace for his execution. "Weeeeehahahahahaha!" He laughs down at me. "You look familiar! Who are you really?!"

"Fuck you that's who!" I snarl out. If this guy's a Blackbeard Pirate, that means he's strong. I stand no chance in this form. Let's try my Kyubbi form. It'll be a bit big, however I have confidence in myself. Fire licks angrily at my form before completely and utterly obscuring me from the outside world. I however can see perfectly fine. Within seconds, I find myself as a massive being, paws planted firmly on the platform and nine tails whipping around as I lift my head to the sky and scream my anger. I hate this man. Not because his captain did what he did to Ace, but because he and his captain are horrible people. They are monsters. True monsters.

"W-What's this?! Suddenly a massive beast has taken the spot of Cross! What is this thing?!" The announcer calls out in obvious fear and surprise.

"I am Cross!" I snarl out, tails still whipping. If they can't figure out who I really am, then to bad for them. They must live under a rock because the Kyubbi no Kitsune is a Super Nova, and a powerful one at that. I lower my large black head to look down at Burgess, "And you are going down, tiny man". I open up my massive jaws and release a breathe of fire that dances like a tornado. This would be Kitsune no Chimatsuri, save without the little flashiness nor the movement I'd normally make. However, it's just as strong. I watch as Burgess takes it on like nothing happened, brutting his way through the fire that would normally burn people in one of the worst ways. I don't like this at all. And then he goes on to to taunt me!

"Weeeehahahahah!" He laughs, "You can't defeat a fighting champion like me! Stupid little fox! Go back to your den!" He rushes me, aiming to punch my jaw by jumping up. However, I snarl and smack him down with a tail.

"Don't underestimate me!" I snarl. There's a blast of energy as I pin him with my tail, and this forces it off his body. He then goes so far as to grab me by this tail and he begins to swing me around in a circle. Me. A mountain sized fox. I'm getting swung around by a man much smaller than Whitebeard himself. I'd understand it if he were as big as Whitebeard was. But this? No. I snarl as he laughs, and reach down with a hand like paw- that is, I have fingers and a thumb, but it's covered in fur and most of it looks like an actual paw as opposed to a hand- and dig my claws into the pavement. The claws go in deep, making trenches, and soon enough I find myself on four feet. The tail Burgess has, though, becomes a single handed punching bag. That's fucking painful as all hell! I yowl at him, which is then bitten into a snarl as I pick up that tail and it's his turn to get swung around despite the resistance he offers me. I scoff, and slam him into the pavement multiple times. I hear him grunt at the pain and force that I'm sure runs through him. I slam him into the ground a few more times before two tails wrap around him and go so far as to light him on fire. I growl as he ignores the pain, biting into my tail and making me drop him from the shock of the attack. It is then that he jumps up at me, and punches me. However, just because I'm big, doesn't mean I'm slow. Before he can touch me, I move out of the way and slam a front hand into him. I then sit and bring him up to look at my face. "You need to get stronger. You're no challenge for Ace; you're not a challenge for me. I bet you're one of the weaker members of your crew". These words are whispered for only him to hear. Before he can retaliate, white fire takes hm on, and I slam him into the ground and grind him there. I hear a scream of pain, and decide to end it. I snarl, and let him flop himself onto his back. Not that it helps. I lower my face to him, looking at him with a single all red eye. "Try to survive this," I growl, "Not". I lift a single claw and let white fire dance on it then send it to impale his body. A human of average size would die from this. However, he's larger than most. Maybe around Jean Bart's size...? Probably smaller. I watch as blood dances on my claw, and fire harmlessly bursts around me. I return to my human form, and pull my arm from his gut. He glares at me as I take him by his shirt and drag him to the edge of the ring. Where I push him into the water.

There is silence and then, "...There you have it people! The winner of the block A round is none other than Cross!" Cheering starts up, and I look up to the stands to see the people and their love for the bloodshed. I scoff. I'd understand it if they could actually fight. But they can't. They're another type of person I can't stand. I make my way across one of the bridges and back into the waiting for the other round to begin. I'm met by Luffy, Ace, and unfortunately Cavendish.

"You were amazing out there Cross!" Luffy grins out, wrapping me in an enthusiastic hug that I return.

Ace smirks himself and pats me on the back, maintaining that friendship status we're supposed to have only in here. However I can see as I meet his dark gaze that he wants to give me a 'congrats' hug. "You didn't waste any time with him at all, did you?"

I shake my head, "I hate assholes like him".

Cavendish smiles himself and nods, "That was a beautiful fight you had out there, Cross. I hope to fight you sometime". No you don't. Now...We have to wait for the next Block.

Block B, Ace's block is next; he doesn't need much of a 'good luck' with his fight. While there is one or two that manages to give him a good surprise, I watch as my fire controlling friend takes down man after man without any real issue. There was a man named Bellamy that seemed like a good person to fight against. However, Ace took him down after a short scrap soon enough. Upon his return to the waiting area, we share a grin and a high five, congratulating one another seeing as he didn't get to really do so after my own block had finished.

"That was amazing A- I mean, Ichigo!" Luffy grins out.

Ace chuckles down at his little brother, casually and playfully using my shoulder as an arm rest. "It wasn't much. You better win your block too you know, Lucy".

I nod, "If Ichigo and I can do it, so can you".

"You really think so, Cross?"

"Damn right I do. Now go and show them what you're made of," I turn him around and push him in the proper direction as those controlling the fights are trying to make things nice and smooth as to keep people from waiting too long.

When Block C starts, Luffy enters the ring happy, confident and excited. When the gong is heard, Luffy is obviously excited to start fighting. As the battle royal goes on, Luffy is seen defeating an opponent effortlessly. Some time during the battle royal, Luffy goes so far as to tame and befriended the Fighting Bull, naming him Ucy. Luffy rides on top of him as he rampages around the ring. The bull is eventually stopped and crushed by Hajrudin. Luffy then avenges Ucy by eliminating Hajrudin from the competition with a knock-out punch. This of course surprises the crowd by far. After all, 'Lucy' is such a little man. How the hell could he take down the giant Hajrudin?

Afterwords, Luffy removes Fighting Bull from the fighting area by carrying him over his right shoulder. When he is finished, Luffy enters the fight again only to have his helmet stolen by Jean Ango who heard a rumor that he is Straw Hat Luffy, forcing him to use his cape to hide his identity.

I growl and lunge against the window that I stand by to watch the fight. Behind me Ace holds onto my shoulders sternly as to keep me from going to beat the shit out of this Jean Ango myself. "You asshole! What kind of person steals another person's helmet?!" It could give us away damn it!

"Calm down Cross!" Ace demands from behind me, "Lucy can handle this just fine".

Jean Ango then throws multiple weapons at him, which Luffy is able to dodge with ease. The weapons aimed at Luffy hit Chinjao instead. Luffy then takes back his helmet before Chinjao knocks the bounty hunter out of the ring. Seeing that Chinjao is hell bent on taking some sort of grudge out on him, Luffy decides to fight him head on. Before clashing with Chinjao, he knocks out Sai while Chinjao knocks out Ideo. As the two remaining fighters in the battle royal, Luffy and Chinjao clash their fists against each other, causing a large wave of Haoshoku Haki to burst throughout the arena.

After Luffy declares his goal of becoming the Pirate King, Chinjao asks him who taught him Haki and Luffy answers that it was Rayleigh. Chinjao then bursts into tears, mentioning about a treasure he was not able to acquire.

In the mean time, here I am standing with my jaw slack, "...He's crying in the middle of a fight? Oh come on!"

Next to me, Ace sweat drops, "Why does Lucy fight all the weird ones?"

Luffy tells Chinjao to stick to either crying or getting angry and then continued his clash with him. Thank you, Luffy. After taking some punches from Chinjao, Luffy strikes back with a powerful attack of his own, hitting him in the chest with his Gomu Gomu no Hawk Rifle.

After recovering, Chinjao begins mocking Luffy, "You know, those known as the Worst Generation are nothing but greenhorns who do not know anything of the world. Your attempts to surpass Roger are laughable. It was a shame that the marines weren't able to execute Fire Fist Ace no thanks to that rotten woman- whatever her name was. At least they managed to get White Beard".

Now it's me who is holding Ace back, "Calm down! Lucy's gonna put him in his place!" I growl to him, fighting to hold him back as physically, he's stronger than I.

Luffy then proceeds to launch himself in the air with Gomu Gomu no Rocket using Chinjao as leverage. He then activates Gear Third and launches his Gomu Gomu no Thor Elephant Gun while Chinjao takes the attack head on with a headbutt. The two collide, seemingly matched up until Luffy manages to gain the upper hand, which coincidentally restores Chinjao's head to the shape it was before his final battle with Garp. Chinjao is then knocked out and falls down to the arena, splitting it in half with his newly reformed head. Chinjao then sinks into the water, unconscious, and Luffy officially wins Block C. Luffy stands victorious as the audience cheers for him.


	18. Chapter 18

_Alright, so the following is a bit of a history lesson about Creed. It doesn't have anything to do with the current story itself, just fleshes her out a bit more and gives you a bit more information about her and just how she got her hands on the Kitsune Kitsune no MI. I'll be attempting to see how far the anime of One Piece has gotten and if I feel it's far enough then I'll write a few more chapters. But until I get to that, may this assure you that the story hasn't left my__ mind_

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Third person POV

The island of Alegria had always been something more like a place like one large family. Everyone knew or knew of everyone else. Even though the size of the island put most in the South Blue to shame. Despite its size it was not covered in large buildings that a place like Water Seven would call towers or skyscrapers. Instead, simple buildings made of brick and stone dotted this land, occasionally being made of something more simple if the home was on farming land. It was as though it were its own self sustaining country with little contact to the outside world. Not because the island's ruler, a man by the name of Xescas, was cruel and didn't allow people to travel or visit but because no one bothered to do either. It was not on the direct route of any traveler or pirate, nor did the Marines come to look the place over for simple inspection. It was, and to this day is, a peaceful place filled with people that minded their own business but were not antisocial, with fighters that were not weak nor overly strong, or even much hate or distrust in general. Some would say that the island of Alegria was absolutely perfect for someone looking to settle down with a family or looking for an ultimately fresh start.

It was here that the Guardian Pirates had settled down for a total of nine months thus far in order to allow a certain member of the crew to relax and stay unstressed. The crew of this group of sea travelers was not big in the slightest, just a group of close friends close enough to call one another brother or sister, but they were not a tiny group either. The captain of this crew was Kakusare Ichigo, who had black hair that was dark enough to have a red tint to it in the light and bright green eyes like emeralds. He was massive for a man who came from an island that spawned shorter than average people. Though this is because he had been found washed ashore of that nameless island as a child, and adopted into a family by a kind man and woman. He stood around six foot nine actually, and was built like a monster. He wasn't over burly, but there were obviously muscles on him that were as hard as iron. He fought with this giant sword that reminded me of an over sized saw if not for the fact that it was thin like a katana. In his journeying, he had indeed managed to get himself a nickname like any good Piriate- not that he considered himself one. Blade Guardian, they called him, for his determination in protecting his crew during the hardest of times, and the size of his odd sword. While he was no where near the strongest, he was powerful, and feared by those that did not know him. Which wasn't surprising, as for the most part he was a rather serious man, his face naturally settling into a scowl when relaxed or when he wasn't sleeping.

Ichigo's first mate was Vigael, and he ate the Kaze Kaze no Mi- the wind wind fruit. He had brown hair and blue eyes. Having come from a more northern portion of the South Blue, it was not surprising to find he had such features; he wore simple glasses with a black rim and sturdy frame. His skin was pale due to him having once been constantly sick during his younger years. While every now and then he still had fits of coughing, they were far and few in between and said to be a side effect left behind after he became a healthy person. He was the older between himself and his little sister, a woman he had grown up watching over and protecting from various men who thought her to be beautiful. Because he ate the Kaze Kaze no Mi, he could not swim, however he was built like someone who had once been a frequent swimmer. Being the first mate of the crew he was part of, he was almost constantly by Ichigo's side, balancing him out in every way. While Ichigo fought up close, Vigael fought from afar, using his Kaze Kaze abilities to make the bullets from his gun more powerful or faster, or simply creating flying blades of the element or bullets. To Ichigo's more...Serious expression, Vigael almost always had a smile on his lips. During battle, Ichigo would become a ball of joy and terror, jumping into the fight; Vigael would become serious and tactical. They were best friends, the yin to the other's yang. Like his Captain, the First Mate had a name that he had managed to get in his later years, Kaze no Kami they called him.

The doctor of the crew's name was Treason- literally that's what his name was. He was once a slave for the king of his home island. He committed his namesake, having given the enemy kingdom on the island information about their troops. It was either death or slavery. He couldn't remember why he had committed treason other than the fact that his King was an ass. And he could never remember just how exactly he got away. The Guardian Pirates had found him drifting on a raft barely big enough to float, half starving and with grievous wounds. It took him weeks to recover, however in those weeks he had grown close to the Guardian Pirates and stayed as their doctor. The man fought oddly, using thin wires sharp as any blades, his finger nimble and swift and skilled like a puppet master's. A twitch of his pinky finger while using these wires visible only to someone if light caught them, could easily kill three dozen men. Treason was a very reliable man, always prepared for the worst, but not paranoid. If something didn't go his way, then he adapted. Even so, he constantly wore fingreless gloves that sported his fighting wires that upon his command would some how store themselves away from anywhere obvious. One would think that the wires would take his fingers off due to lack of protection, however, something about him kept them from doing so. Even he didn't understand why; not that he minded or tried to figure it out. He was older side with graying hair, sharp senses and oddly enough violet eyes. Being older than even Ichigo, he was like a father to the members of the crew. And he would most likely be a grandfather to the newcomer that would be joining them within a few days.

Despite the fact that Vigael was the main gunsman upon the ship, being more skilled in handling one than the other crew member to be mentioned, this one was almost as skilled. On the Victory's Song- their ship- he was not to be messed with, his sea legs being better than his land ones. If anything, he was more of the crew's assassin than a gunsman. He was skilled in many things, a jack of all trades, and less caring for enemy life than most others on the crew. However he fought mostly with a gun. He was on the extravagant side, having long and shinny black hair, a hat wit a feather in it, and poofy clothing. He did fight with a sword- being a jack of all trades- however again he preferred the bullet over the blade. He and Ichigo would spar a lot. His name was Cruz. Much like Vigael, he was more out going than Ichigo or Treason. However where as Vigael was merely kind to just about everyone outside of battle, Cruz was something of a clown. Constantly fooling around and not bothering to honestly do what work that needed to be done. A real slacker. He preferred to spend his time finding ways to better his many skills, and therefore trained for more than half the day at a time; it and pulling pranks were his only two hobbies. As the First Mate acted as the primary gunsman on the ship, Cruz took on the duty of being navigator and care taker of the Victory's Song. Like Treason, he did not have a 'nickname' for himself as the Captain and First Mate did. Though he did not mind.

The youngest member, until the welcoming of the soon to be newest one, was also the only woman on the crew of the Guardian Pirates. Her name was Shy, though she was anything but. She was a beautiful woman of average height and lovely build, having long blonde hair that rolled like ocean waves and eyes that reflected the water she often traveled on. However, like the weather of the Grand Line, those blue eyes could go from warm and welcoming to freezing temperatures and beyond deadly. Despite her almost angelic appearance, she had a mouth that didn't care for what it said to who; in other words she was blunt and often cursed even with a smile. Being of relation to Vigael- his little sister by four years in fact- she had the frame of a female swimmer, slim and strong. She made sure to keep herself in good shape when not fighting, however she did not train any where near as often as Cruz did. She was Victory's Song's chef, an excellent one at that- but not the best. Like her brother, she was almost always smiling when things were relaxed and there was nothing to worry about. In battle, she was a tornado of danger and fury. A smile would rest on her lips, however those eyes of hers turned colder than the coldest of blizzards on a winter island. A force not to be messed with or underestimated, she was. Later, she would be compared to the chef of the Straw Hat Pirates, fighting only with her legs and firmly believing that it is wrong for a chef to fight with what they cook with. However, she fought differently from Sanji. While yes all her attacks were handled by her legs as mentioned, her weapons did not stop there. Strapped to her calves were special weapons that with a tap against one another would release blades that could spring from the sides of her calves, seeming to appear from no where. They were heavy, and what she fought with most often. They were a form of limiting her, being as heavy as they were. However she could do more damage without them on her person, their weight removed from her.

In a small house on the island of Alegria, the Guardian Pirates stood in one room, separate from Treason's doctor quarters- a room cleaned and sterilized specifically for this day. In the middle of the room, the room that holds all the men save for one, paces Ichigo, brows furrowed and greed eyes beyond worried. Two days ago came the due date for his and Shy's child, Treason expected it to be a little girl. Two days ago, Shy went into labor; she's been in such a state since. While Ichigo had managed to keep her calm through the first day, he himself didn't manage to handle the stress of his lover's pain for the second day. He had to leave. In his place- even though he dislikes it- is Vigael, the child's uncle. Her screams echo through the building.

"Ichigo, calm down," Cruz sighed out, hunched over in his place, eyes glazed with worry as well. Treason had told them that being in labor for this long is dangerous for Shy's health as well as the baby's. However, the woman was holding on strong; surely the child was as well. In his hands rested his hat, held by the brim to let him take his worry out on that.

Ichigo turned to his jack of all trades, emerald orbs meeting black eyes, "My wife is in there screaming her fool head off and you think I should calm down? I can't even handle being in there; I'm a horrible husband and a horrible father".

"No you're not," Cruz sighed out, being the only other person to be in the room with his Captain. "You're a first time father. Sure most can bare the screams but just because you can't doesn't mean you're a bad husband or father. Come on now man. Sit down and I'll get you a drink".

Ichigo was going to deny himself relaxation when there was a door opened. The sound of it moving alone was enough to cause the young father to whirl around in worry and relief. The screaming is over. The one holding the door open let his blue glasses covered eyes meet his brother in law's with a smile. His pale skin looked paler than before to show that his own worry did a number on him, and the stress made him very tired. However it was the smile that stood out the most, "Ichigo. You should come say hello. You too Cruz".

Ichigo's jaw dropped in disbelief. It was over? With a rapidly thudding heart and wide curious eyes, he by passed the smaller man, his head just barely missing the door frame. Upon entering the room, he found a place that would otherwise be dubbed a dinning room. However in preparation for this day, a bed replaced the table, and medical supplies replaced everything else. In the bed was a woman with long messy blond hair and pale normally peach colored skin. Ocean blue eyes obviously showed her exhaustion, but the smile on her lips was bright and happy. To the side, cleaning his hands was Treason, his frame standing tall and proud. He'd never delivered a child before and therefore spent the whole nine months of Shy's pregnancy reading up and going through necessary procedures should certain things happen. Had he not have done so, Shy and her baby would have died.

"S-Shy...?" Ichigo mumbled, eyes going from being locked onto her, to the little bundle in her arms.

Shy, beautiful as ever in her husband's eyes, smiled to the giant of a man who helped her to create the miracle in her gentle but steady hold. "Come here Ichigo. Say hello to our daughter," she tells the man with an award winning smile. Ichigo carefully made his way around the foot of his bed, silently complying to Shy's demand. The child was sleeping, the man noticed, not that it mattered to him. Ever so carefully, Shy helped her husband take a hold of the child, body weak but not giving in to the exhaustion that washed over her at the time. "Mind her head now," she warned him, already the motherly instincts that most women seem to have naturally ordering her to tell her husband such a warning.

Ichigo did as he was told, gently taking the yellow bundled child carefully and holding her close to his chest as he had seen parents do before. His eyes roamed over the small ball of fat and skin and bones and muscle. She was certainly a chubby little tike, her cheeks round and her lips pouty. Upon looking at her, he saw that she had blonde hair. Ichigo himself was a blonde until naturally it darkened as he got older. By the time he hit his mid-teens, it became black. Perhaps the same will happen to her? Or perhaps she would retain her mother's color? Ichigo blinked as the ball of skin's eyes opened up to show him something that he had never seen before. They were beautiful eyes all the same; but very different none the less. Both eyes were not just green or just blue; nor were they hazel as could happen according to Treason. Instead, both were a mixture of the two. The left was like his own green eyes, however, ocean blue flecks danced there, her right eye was the opposite: blue with green flecks.

Treason, done with his cleaning up, Treason looked at the little girl as well, having already seen her eyes but wanting to see them again. "I can say that that's not normal for a child even without any real delivering experience," the man said, violet orbs meeting the baby's, "But it would be something if they stayed like that".

Shy smiled from her position, loving the look her Captain and husband was giving her child. He may have not realized it, but the man was looking down at the baby girl with nothing but adoration despite the dash of surprise in his features. She would never get tired of seeing or just remembering that gaze. "I was thinking Creed would fit her well. She looks like a Creed to me," she told her husband.

Ichigo looked up from the child who simply stared at him, not seeing him but seeing his shadow if anything else. Her eyes were still developing; of course she wouldn't be able to see his full figure just yet. "Creed is a perfect name," he told Shy, "Kakusare Creed...Our little girl...I promise I'll always protect you. With my life". The newly named Creed did not understand the garbling sounds that the large shadow made, however his voice was familiar. The result being that she smiled, and shuffled as much as her weak body could allow her. It seemed as though his promise was approved of by her.

Cruz up until now had been standing at Vigael's side, simply letting the family of three have their time together. However, upon the moment of silence as Treason took Creed from Ichigo and placed her into a small bed so that Shy could rest- something she did almost right away once Ichigo climbed into bed with her and held her close- Cruz finds the time to talk. "We're gonna be here for a while, obviously," the jokester points out, "Who's gonna teach her to fight tough? Like hell I'm staying here for the rest of my life".

Ichigo didn't fall asleep after joining his wife in bed. However he was relaxed and happy to hold the woman in his arms for the first time in three days total, "We'll stay here until she can walk, read and talk. I'll have to get a job though just so we can still live here comfortably. You guys should help me".

Treason nodded his head, relaxing for the first time in three days himself. While he was not old- anywhere near fifty- all the stress he's handled in his life has made him start to gray early. Not only that, but he was in his forties; everyone else was in their mid to late twenties at most with Vigael being the second oldest. "I'm sure I can find a doctor's office to work at for a while," Treason assured, "If not, I'll open up my own place".

Vigael pursed his lips, "I'd actually rather it if I taught her how to fight. I know you'd love to teach her Ichigo but let's face it: you couldn't teach a dog to bark". The tease consisted of nothing but the truth, however it was delivered with a smile.

Ichigo's brows furrowed, his scowl deepening, "Bullshit. Get me a dog and I'll teach it to bark," he scoffed out. Still, the older man had a point, "...Fine. You keep an eye on Creed and teach her to fight. But until she can do that kind of stuff on her own, you're getting a job".

Vigael chuckled, "Of course".

Cruz sighed "I guess I'll help you guys...I don't know what I'll do...Ahh well. Anything to make sure we don't end up starving I guess. You know Shy will want to start working too, right? She won't stand for being a stay at home mom all the time".

Ichigo nodded, "I expected as much from her already. We'll find a way to alternate when who has Creed, I guess". There was a round of nods, showing that the other men agreed with her.

Thus, Creed's life began on a very pleasant note. Surrounded by family and friends that cared for her as their own, her time as a toddler was a happy one. She aged and played and learned like an average person should. Ichigo at first often floundered on how to handle her and her issues- dirty diapers, hunger, tiredness, the works. However he did manage to get better after multiple failures. Unfortunately for him, it was only he who was unconditioned in the care of something so weak and young. While Shy had never taken care of a baby other than Creed, she did as her mind and body naturally told her to. The other men of the crew had little trouble as well. Treason had also never cared for something so young and weak, however being a doctor he could easily ascertain just what Creed wanted when she flailed or cried. Vigael had cared for Shy when he was younger; he had the most experience in caring for his niece and simply fell into the almost forgotten pattern of caring for Creed as he had done for Shy. Cruz had at once been raised by nuns on a nameless island. It was all around him that children were born at least five times a week. He was not bothered by the birthing sequence that Shy went through- though he was worried by the dangers of it- nor was he really issued about caring for Creed. He had found work as a farm hand, however, and as such didn't spend a lot of time with the little girl until winter time which was a total of six months after her birth. By that time, she was a little bit less of a hassle.

Three years soon passed for the little girl; half a year ago she had honestly begun to grasp words and reading and everything else- a bright child she was- having to do with speech. Even though her vocabulary was very small, she still showed off her personality through her actions. She was by far a daddy's girl, first and foremost. The man was her hero and her role model. She found him to be incredibly strong, something she aimed to be one day. He was her favorite person in the world. She rarely exhibited Ichigo's natural scowl though, and often was more so like her mother and uncle. Always having a smile on those tiny lips of hers, eyes bright with calmness and happiness. Her eyes, surprisingly, stayed as they were, bichromic and with opposing colored flecks in them. Treason had never heard of a child's eyes staying as they appeared to be at birth. Apparently such a condition was very rare. The only time she did show off her father's personality is when she was serious about something. Whether it be trying to understand or learn a near word, or perhaps jump higher than she had the day before. Normally though it was because something didn't go the way her young mind planned.

Having a year of experience at walking and running under her belt so to speak, once she turned three years old Vigael started to teach her how to fight. Like her father, however, she quickly proved herself to prefer to fight up close and personal. However she disliked the art of the sword with a burning passion from hell. She trained with thick sticks as bokken were obviously still too big for her, however even no matter how sturdy the stick it did not fit her. Her little hands hated fighting with a weapon other than themselves. She excelled swiftly despite her very young age in the art of hand to hand fighting, something that the whole of the crew was surprised to see. A three year old able to actually dodge the First Mate's quarter speed powered attacks not once but twice? That's honestly saying something for someone so young going against someone so conditioned to fight.

Today was a warm summer day, a month after little Creed's fourth birthday. The girl had recently been gifted the permission to start wandering further from home. That was a rule Ichigo had for her; she could only wander so far. Should she cross the boundaries that her daddy said she couldn't pass, she would be punished. She'd already done so multiple times and been caught and punished. Therefore she's learned that she should not ignore her dad's wishes. Still getting used to her new 'territory' so to speak however, she had found herself to be lost after two hours of wandering. It did not worry her; the grownups would find her and bring her home. If anything, Cruz would find her; he had a knack for doing that when she got lost.

Large innocent eyes loved to sights of all the tall trees that surrounded her, but at the moment her attention was honestly only given to the tree in front of her. It was unlike any she'd ever seen. It seemed to look like a normal tree, growing from the ground and having brown bark. But its leaves were white like clouds, and they looked like they were on fire. Unknown to her, they were actually made of fire. A single fruit hung from the tree, looking like fire itself and being of a brilliant blue with flecks red looking to be burn spots. Around the tree was something so pretty, she couldn't believe her eyes. She'd never seen one in real life, but had read about one in a few of her story books. Its fur was a brilliant red, smooth and shinny as though it had just given itself a bath. Black legs and underbelly, black ears and mouth area. Even though the colors were a bit different, she could tell that the creature was a fox. It was sleeping at the base of the odd tree.

"You're pretty," the girl's high pitched voice cooed out to the fox in the form of a whisper. She dared not to get closer though. She knew not of how mean it actually was despite its beauty. Daddy had explained that some pretty animals were actually dangerous to her even if she was strong for a little girl. She blinked as the fox's ears perked and pointed in her voice's direction. Wasn't it just sleeping? How did it wake up so fast? She couldn't comprehend. "I'm sorry," she apologized, believing that the fox would respond, "I didn't mean to wake you up". The fox's brilliant golden eyes stared at the girl before him. He had never seen a human so tiny, so close to his own size. However, the little female human does not carry herself as though she is lost. Nor does she display any fear towards him. Most humans stray from him and his odd tree of a resting spot. The fox lifted its head higher from the slightly risen position it was in in order to better look at her. Unknown to humans, the foxes have never been stupid or unknowing. They simply have taken a different trip of evolution than them. They are not any less intelligent.

This in mind, the male fox watched as the girl stood there, not afraid but not daring to get closer. He tilted his head and stood, shaking his pelt free of grass pieces and dust. If he could speak the human tongue, he would request that she come closer. However, he didn't have the ability to master the garbled yips and barks that came from human mouths. He did understand them however. The human kit called him pretty. He was pleased to find that such a young kit found him as such. Still, with the inclination of his head and the non-hostile stare down he gave her, he was pleased to find that she took it as an invitation to get closer to him. He was not a fan of humans, however he had never felt hate towards them. At the moment, he felt curiosity.

Creed didn't know if her hunch was right, but it seemed like since the fox did not make to attack her that it was safe for her to get closer to his beautiful form. The red of his fur simply caught her gaze to no end. She could not imagine herself getting tired of looking at the color that so nicely reminded her of a sunset or sunrise. Being as old as she was, she still did not often get to see either of those times of day. She often fell asleep before sunset, and woke up after sunrise. There had been a few times where she managed to get to see either of them, but the number of times in her life was few and fleeting. The closer the girl got, the more confident in being able to actually touch the creature she became. Eventually, the tiny girl came close enough to do just that, her small hand was held out carefully as to show the fox- not that she knew that he was as intelligent, if not more so, as she- that she meant no harm to it. Eventually the girl's hand managed to make contact with the top of the fox's head, his ears pulling back in unsure response to the new sensation of being pet like some sort of house animal.

"You're so soft too!" Creed's childish voice squealed with glee, no longer caring about where she pet the fox. The male vulpine creature actually found that he enjoyed the little girl's attention. He'd never been pet before. And in his earlier years he looked down upon the canines that lived with the humans for food, shelter and protection. He had to add companionship to that list of things they stayed for. The feeling of the child's hand running through his fur felt amazing; it was definitely something worth waking up for. However suddenly the girl took away her hand, baring her harmless teeth at him even though her body language told him that she was being playful. "Tag! You're it!" She exclaimed.

'Tag' was a game that she and daddy often played when he was to watch her and mommy was away. Tag was also something that she and uncle Vigael played- though his version was just for training. Mommy didn't often get to play tag with her sadly; she was the most busy working. Grandpa Treason wasn't home a lot, and Brother Cruz often came home exhausted and smelling icky. Thus the result being that the girl did not have a lot of play mates. Not that she blamed any of the grown ups. They had lives too. She understood that they all worked to keep themselves and her alive. Part of her vowed to one day pay them all back once she was grown up too. The fox did not understand the yip 'tag'. Even when the girl returned to tap him on the nose harmlessly and exclaim what she had before.

When the fox did not make to chase her as she had hoped he would, Creed faced him and tilted her head. Innocently she questioned him, "What's the matter? Don't you know what tag is?" The fox simply let out a huff and sat on his rear, seeming to demand that she explain what the hell she was talking about. "It's a game! The person who's 'it' chases after the person who isn't. If the person that's 'it' touches the person that's not, then the person touched is 'it' and they chase after the person that was 'it'". Creed paused as the fox merely sat there. In hopes of getting him to understand one more time, she reached forward and tapped him on the nose, shouting 'tag!' one more time before running off.

The fox at last seemed to understand because he ran after her in retaliation. In order to 'tag' her back, he had to tackle the girl, however he did not want to chase her too far into the woods. Humans at such a young age, like kits, are very vulnerable. And as she seems so tiny, he realizes that she is weak still. Thus, he did his best to keep the girl in the clearing that held his special relaxing tree. Eventually, after a tied count of the two of them being it, the child finally fell to her butt with a heave of breath and stopped her running and giggling. The fox had to admit that the game was fun; should he have kits he should teach the game to them. A bit tired himself, he settled himself under his special tree, panting and letting his tongue hang to catch his breath.

"That was fun! Thank you!" Creed beamed to the fox. The fox merely looked at the girl and tilted his head, something of a 'you're welcome' she supposed. Her brows furrowed though, as a loud rumble came from her tummy; she covered it with a small hand. "But it looks like I'm hungry. I'd better be getting home. It's also starting to get late," she could feel that too. Her lengthening internal clock told her that it was almost dinner time; she couldn't be late. If she was...She'd be scolded. Thus, she stood to her feet with a push of her legs and looked to the panting fox, "I'll come back tomorrow...'Kay? We can play again then! See ya!" She made to leave without getting an answer from the fox. However, there was a thud that caught her attention. It kept her from leaving the clearing fully, and urged her to turn and see what had fallen. What she found though was the very single fruit that was hanging from the oddly pretty tree. The very tree that the fox rested under. "I should go home but...," hunger gripped her tiny being. Leaving that fruit to rot would be bad wouldn't it? She fully turned around and made her way to the fruit laying not far from the fox's paws. "What do you think?" She questioned him upon picking the weird fruit up. Like the tree, it was oddly pretty.

The fox didn't care. It smelled funny to him, however if the girl wanted to eat it then so be it. This is exactly what the girl did, giving into the hunger that demanded to be stopped by just about anything. Creed took a large bite of the fruit, only for her eyes to widen. "It's yucky!" She glared at the fruit, the flavor of it made her want to throw up. However that single bite of gross food did not stop her stomach from demanding more sustenance. "...Momma always says not to waste food," she muttered to herself as she continued to stare the fruit down, "She would be mad if I wasted this. The tree worked so hard to make it". After all, there was only one of them. Deciding to ignore the gross taste that the fruit was sure to leave behind, she continued what she started, taking big bites, chewing quickly, and swallowing too fast for her to spit the food up. It filled her up surprisingly well, taking away her hunger for the time being. However, once done, moments later something occurred to her that she'd never felt before. "W-Why am I so warm?" She muttered to herself, looking down at her hands that trembled with the effort of holding them up. Her stomach demanded that she throw up the food that she had just eaten moments earlier, however the rest of her body refused to do so. Pants of breath came in and out of her lungs, a thin layer of sweat already covered her tiny frame. She felt as though she had been through an extra long training session with uncle Vigael. "I-I...I don't feel so good...," were the last words she managed to mutter before her body shut down on her. It collapsed as her mind fell into darkness, hitting the ground with a dull thud. The fox, realizing that the fruit must have made her sick, left in search of humans; maybe they could make her better. It was the least he could do in return for getting rid of his boredom.

Hours passed and the fox could find no human to lure to where the little girl was; it's a shame she didn't introduce herself. He was stuck nursing her himself, curled around her small frame and licking her dry of sweat. Her illness had gotten worse; the salty water coming from her skin became fore abundant and soaked her clothing, she often writhed in pain and whimpered. Sometimes her small limbs would flail as if trying to fight something off; he could not make her get better. However as luck would have it, the sudden crushing of leaves and the sound of a calling male voice- the howls it made sounded distressed- alerted him to a human approaching the fox's clearing. The man that appeared was bigger than any human the fox had ever seen. His eyes were greener than normal tree leaves and his hair made of the same color as the fox's legs. He had not yet noticed the fox nor the human girl on the ground; his eyes were fixed on the fox's odd resting tree.

"Shit," Ichigo muttered. He'd been searching for hours for Creed, worried beyond all belief. When the little girl didn't come home, he had begun to get paranoid, but he was not completely worried. There were times where the girl lost track of time, and would arrive home a little late. However when the sun truly began to sink under the horizon, Ichigo honestly started to fret. For the first time since Creed's birth, as captain of the Guardian Pirates he gave orders to his crew for them to find his little girl. They split the immediate area into sections, each of them taking one for their duties of searching; Ichigo had the portion of the woods that his baby girl was allowed to wander. He stopped for a very short breather after three hours of constant running and searching. He was literally just about ready to cry as he thought he had some how lost his daughter forever. Upon his quick breather, he found the oddest tree; its bark and branches were normal. However its leaves looked to be made of white fire.

He saw some movement below and in front of him. A fox of amazing beauty lay carefully around- "Creed!" So that was the human kit's name, the male fox realized. This male must be the kit's father by the distressed look on his face. The nameless creature stood out of the way, having never felt fatherly protection but understanding it. Ichigo snatched Creed from the ground and away from the kind fox, cradling her to his chest carefully. Her skin practically burns his own it's so hot. He barely sends a 'thank you' the fox's way before running out of the forest. By now the others should be back home.

"Daddy," the girl mumbled every now and then, her voice a high pitched whine of pain and something akin to fear.

"Daddy's here. Don't worry baby," Ichigo muttered to the girl as their home came into view, "Grandpa Treason is gonna make you all better," he vowed. Using his mass to literally shoulder check the front door open- ultimately making it fly off its hinges and slam into the farthest wall from it and leaving a large dent in its wake- he looks around. "Treason!" He yells even though the older man is practically right in front of him. "Fix her!"

Treason's brows furrowed the moment his eyes set on little Creed. Her frame was extremely pale and her clothing was drenched in sweat while heaves of breath came from her as though it was she who just came running into the house. He almost dropped her in shock at how warm she was; her skin almost literally burnt his own. "She needs a cool bath. Now," he tells the other man and the worried mother who by now is crying and clinging to her brother whom comforts her. What had happened to her precious Creed?! Her baby girl!

"I'll be back in no time," Cruz muttered, spinning and bolting from the room into the kitchen before grabbing the large bag of ice that he had bought for the freezer- for drinks- earlier that day. His slamming foot steps head up the stairs of the house and into the bathroom where he fills the tub and rips open the bag before pouring all the contents in. Like hell his 'little sister' is going to be taken out by whatever's happened to her. He's nudged out of the way as a naked Creed is put into the water. Her skin was so hot, the water began to evaporate.

"This is the strangest thing," Treason muttered to the group outside the bathroom; they could not come in as he needed room to move and handle his patient. "There's no illness that I know of that can make her so warm that she begins to literally evaporate ice cold water...," then, something very interesting began to occur. What in the seven layers of hell? "Guys get in here". The other four do as told, the parents of the child closest to Treason and their girl. What they saw was something not physically possible by terms of an illness. On her hands, sharp claws began to form, literally growing into place as they looked her naked body over. Her parted lips show that in place of her normal mostly rounded canines, fangs grow as well, the canines morphing like her nails did. What amazed them the most however, was her hair. Going from a beautiful golden color and wavy like Shy's, Creed's hair changed. At the roots, it was a very dark red, almost black, before it bled into normal red, which then bled into light blues which became darker blues, and then finally almost black again. From wavy and graceful to spiky and wild, her hair became.

"W-What?" Shy muttered, astounded and afraid. "What's happening to her Treason?"

Treason shook his head, "It's not an illness, that's for sure. It has to be something else...Right Vigael?"

All eyes turned to the brown haired bespecticaled man. His blue eyes were narrowed in thought before suddenly they widened. Before speaking, he fixed his slipping glasses, eyes fixed on his niece that changed before him. "...It has to be a Devil Fruit".

Shy's head snapped in her brother's direction, "What?! Vigael that's not possible! Where the fuck could she have gotten a Devil Fruit?! She knows not to take food from strangers!"

Ichigo's brows furrowed, "I found her with a fox in front of this weird tree...Its leaves were made of white fire even though the bark was normal. The fox didn't do anything to her; it looked like it was even trying to take care of her".

"What?" Was the snapped demand of brother and sister alike.

Vigael though was the one to continue talking, "...That has to have been a Devil Fruit then...I don't know what kind she could have eaten though".

Treason shook his head, still holding the girl in the water with one hand, and refilling the tub with the other, "If it's a Devil Fruit ability, we have no choice but to let her body adjust. I've never heard of a Fruit doing this to the user after they've eaten it...I wonder what kind it is".

Ichigo sigeds himself before nudging the doctor to the side, "If that's the case, then I'll watch over her. I found her after all. You guys go back to work. Okay?"

"What? Ichigo, she's my daughter too. I-" Shy stood her ground.

"This is an order as your captain, Shy. The Captain takes care of his crew, you know that," Ichigo snapped, eyes glued to the girl that no longer looked a thing like his wife or he.

Shy sighed, "Yes Captain," she muttered. However before leaving to begin dinner, she crouched and placed a kiss on his cheek. The whispered demand of, "Keep her safe," is given before she leaves the room completely.

For multiple days- a week almost- Ichigo took to taking care of the little girl he helped create. He promised himself, on the day of her birth, that he'd protect her with his life. Taking care of her as her body adjusted to the strange Devil Fruit was only part of the job. Treason, after four hours of having Ichigo soak the girl, told him to take her out as she did nothing but evaporate the cold water upon contact by that point. It would do no good for her any longer. The second day of watching over her was interesting to say the least. Ichigo woke up from his daze of worry to find not a little girl in her bed, but a small fox kit. Its legs were black along with its muzzle and ears. The rest of its fur was a turquoise-blue color, while the tails' tips- there were nine- went from blue, to red, to white. He didn't know what color its eyes were. It was about the size of a dog. Upon Ichigo's inquiry, Vigael stated that it was probably part of her Fruit's ability. The next day, she was the size of a horse. The third day, she became some sort of hybrid of the fox form she had become over the last two days. The fourth day, she returned to what the fruit forced her to look like. The sixth day was when Creed woke up, and when her mistake was explained to her in words that she could understand and in a way that she could understand.

The crew managed to get their hands on a book that contained information about the types of Devil Fruits. They placed the book in front of a recovering Creed; six days of such intense body heat, pain, and weakness did a score on her small body. The pictures were mostly what allowed her to keep her focus. Pictures of such pretty fruits with all sorts of shapes and markings. Eventually however, she did point out the fruit she ended up eating. "This one! It looked like fire!" Her four year old voice chimed out.

Ichigo's brows furrowed as he sat on one side of his little girl, Shy on her other side while her hand ran through the newly colored hair. Shy honestly would miss her baby's beautiful golden locks. However, the change was inevitable and irreversible. The new look of her girl would be something to get used to, but nothing she would ever punish or blame her for. Never the less, Shy watched as her Captain and husband looked over the book that he took from in front of Creed.

"The Kitsune Kitsune no Mi, a Mythical Zoan type of Devil Fruit. The Kitsunes were once know for their clever minds and ability to not only control fire, but also turn into something of a hybrid between human and fox. With age came power, and with power came more tails. However there was one fox that acted as king or queen, depending on what gender replaced the other before them. This king or queen was known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the strongest of all Kitsune, with nine tails and a massive amount of power. The Kitsune Kitsune no Mi has only had one recorded survivor after eating it. This is due to the drastic changes the fruit causes in the human body, which are more drastic than most other fruit. While the Kitsune Kitsune no Mi is not known as the Kyuubi Kyuubi no Mi instead, it is believed that no matter however the consumer's current strength, should they survive the changes they will be graced with nine tails; making them honestly the king or queen of foxes"

Creed only understood so much of that as she picked up a half length mirror set on her bed and began to look herself over. She'd already gotten used to the fact that she'd change simply because she ate the icky fruit. However her mind felt that looking at herself while trying to understand what her daddy read would help. The main part she understood was that she was Queen of all foxes and that she could control fire. That'd been all she got out of that. Still, she had to admit that the main change that she would never get tired of seeing was...Her eyes. Eyes that went from being so oddly mismatched to matching but still being of an odd color. The color of embers off a fire. That was the color of her eyes.

"Do you understand what that means, Creed?" Shy questioned her daughter. "It means that your training with uncle Vigael just really got interesting". Creed could only smile happily. More time with uncle Vigael? That was fine with her.


End file.
